Many nutrition programs, like my favorite, consider half a banana to be one serving of fruit. But if you eat only half a banana, then what do you do with the other half?

Almost every day, I use half a banana in my superfood nutrition shake. I have been simply wrapping the cut end of the unused half in plastic wrap and chucking it into my refrigerator. I recently told a friend that, and she gagged! I’ve never had a problem with this storage method, as long as the second half gets eaten within about 24 hours.

While scrolling through Facebook, I saw a post saying that aluminum foil was better for storing half a banana. I’ve tried it for the last couple of weeks, and I could not tell a difference. I decided to put it to the test!

Which is better for storing half a banana – plastic wrap or aluminum foil?

For my mini science experiment, I chose a nice, ripe banana – one perfect for my breakfast shake. Instead of using any of it, I cut it in half and immediately wrapped each half. One end was covered in plastic wrap; the other in aluminum foil.

I placed both halves into my refrigerator, flat on a shelf and touching each other. Both pieces sat unmoved for 24 hours, then I unwrapped them to see which end looked better – plastic wrap or aluminum foil. Here’s the picture I took immediately after unwrapping:

Can you see a difference? I can’t. The cut edge of the peel on both ends had similar browning. The cut edge of the fruit was exactly the same color. I even poked both ends with my finger – they felt exactly the same. In case the plastic wrap and foil make you think you see a difference, here’s a close up of the ends with the wraps removed:

After getting this final picture, I peeled both ends and ate the cut edge. Both bites tasted the same, and both had the same texture. Nothing in my little experiment showed me any real difference between using plastic wrap or aluminum foil.

I have taken enough science classes in my life to know that this isn’t really a valid experiment. It would need to be repeated, with more bananas used and equipment more accurate than my eyes and finger to test for a difference in color or texture. However, for my purposes, in my kitchen, I believe the idea that aluminum foil is better for storing half a banana is a myth – and I busted it!

My final advice to you is this: If you’re going to store half a banana in your refrigerator, you can use either plastic wrap or aluminum foil, whichever one is handy. Just be sure to wrap it tightly over the cut end. If you know for sure that you’ll use the second half in a shake or smoothie, go ahead and peel it, cut it into slices, seal the slices in a zip top bag, and store it in the freezer. Frozen bananas make for a really creamy shake!

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