I’ve been packing lunches for Eddie lately. I saw a neat idea for sending bananas in lunches via pinterest, and decided to try it out!
All you need are a banana and a pointed-but-not-too-sharp object. The website above suggests using a toothpick, but I had better results using a mechanical pencil with no lead – just the plastic tip. You want to press hard enough to leave an indention, but not break the skin.
The top picture was really hard to take – it really is hard to see when you first ‘write’ on the banana. By the time your spouse/child/whoever you pack lunches for gets lunch, a nice, dark message has developed.
Some science fun – you know how banana skins get brown spots as they ripen? This is because of oxidation that occurs naturally as and is sped up when the skin or the whole banana is bruised. Bruising causes the banana to emit an enzyme called polyphenoloxidase which speeds up oxidation, and is the same enzyme that causes the brown color in coffee and tea! Basically, indenting the skin causes the same brown as those brown spots, only faster and exactly where you tell it to! This is not the same as rotting, and does not affect the part of the banana you eat underneath the skin.