What's happened to my banana?

[Piemaster]

There was a period several years ago when I was adamant I never wanted to see another banana, while I was working on ships carrying them. Millions of them.
Bananas are quite a delicate cargo. They are harvested green then kept at 14.4 deg C (a temp well drilled into anyone thats ever been on a banana boat). Below that temp they will develop black spots, or not ripen properly when in the supermarket. Above it and they may start to ripen anyway. The air is changed in the ships hold around 6 times/hour to stop the build up of ethylene, which accelerates the ripening process. There is also a method where the ships holds are filled with an inert gas to stop ripening happening. The bananas could well be on the ship for two weeks, longest in my experience was nearer six - but thats another story.
Ships rarely carry anything else when they have bananas onboard due to the ethylene problem. Supermarkets can force them to ripen so they appear a nice attractive yellow by exposing them to the gas before putting them on the shelves.


Does the fruit bowl have apples in it by any chance? The ethylene given off by ripening fruit will cause the bananas to ripen quickly. Rest an apple against a one and a ripe black spot will appear

 

[Over The Hill]

That is strange. Is there any sign of life in the other bananas?

The plastic bag idea is good as it will tell if it is something inside getting out or outside getting in.

Mice would leave poo as they eat and the quantity missing is rather a lot.

That much would seem to be down to somthing of a fair size. My guess is it is a it more like a bird beak getting in than a neat nibble of a mouse or rat.

Was the window open for a magpie to get in?

 

[Davidc]

A poltergeist with a taste for bananas?

 

[byegad]

It looks like vermin to me. My pet mice would leave smaller teeth marks than that so probably a rat. Time to act!

 

[asterix]

Bananas are quite a delicate cargo. They are harvested green then kept at 14.4 deg C (a temp well drilled into anyone thats ever been on a banana boat). Below that temp they will develop black spots, or not ripen properly when in the supermarket. Above it and they may start to ripen anyway

Back in March I went away for 16 days. I mistakenly left 3 ripe bananas in a bowl and on my return I expected them to be blackened and inedible.

Amazingly they were absolutely fine! In fact they tasted excellent..

I left them in an unheated stone building with 50cm walls, very well insulated, facing North. Unlikely to have been as warm as 14C. I think I have cracked the secret of Banana Storage.

 

[markg0vbr]

if there are no droppings on the side it is a rat, and the way it was eaten says rat to me. i recommend you get a pro in, i am out of action at the moment but i would also look behind the kick boards at the bottom of you units.

 

[slowmotion]

According to Mr Google, both rats and mice love bananas.

 

[Gromit]

I think your going over the top about it being a rodent. Its nothing but a fruit pathogen, google for anthracnose, which is the blemish that you have on your banana.

 

[Midnight]

Why not leave a couple in front of a webcam and leave it recording overnight...?

 

[Aperitif]

I'd repair it using a tyre boot and Park patch.
Next time, buy Specialized pre-talced bananas with Marathon+ skins. (Remember to remove any 'zip' ties when you try and peel it too!

 

[kennyb]

I've looked ur narna and it's the typical shoot they sell you at there supermarkets. I've got a greengrocers and me and the wife haven't seen any thing like it in 30 years of business So stick to your local greengrocers and if it happens again then you've got trouble in your kitchen..

 

[Sambu]

looks like Bana ebolavirus to me!

 

[vernon]

I think your going over the top about it being a rodent. Its nothing but a fruit pathogen, google for anthracnose, which is the blemish that you have on your banana.

The images of banana anthracnose do not match the image provided by the original poster.

 

[JamesAC]

I think your going over the top about it being a rodent. Its nothing but a fruit pathogen, google for anthracnose, which is the blemish that you have on your banana.

That's absolutely spot on. A quick search of google images for anthracnose bananas brings up loads of hideous pics,similar to mine.

Thank you all for your helpful suggestions.

JaC

 

[JamesAC]

The images of banana anthracnose do not match the image provided by the original poster.

This is one I found on the internet , and looks very similar to mine.