Supposed leftovers in the household can often be saved from the trash. Old bananas should also not be thrown away – they are a great home remedy.

Especially in summer, bananas turn brown more quickly. With the color sometimes also the taste and the consistency of the fruits change. But that is not yet a reason to throw them away. If you don’t like to eat very brown and therefore sweet bananas plain, you have other options for reusing them.

Never throw them away: Use old and brown bananas in the household

The most obvious one many consumers have probably already tried: If the bananas are older and therefore particularly sweet, they are excellent for homemade smoothies, banana milk or even banana bread. In general, the distinct sweetness in old bananas is perfect for baking. Utopia recommends the brown fruit for chocolate muffins or banana pancakes. For a recipe without egg, all you have to do is mix the following ingredients into a batter and then portion and fry them in a pan with a little oil:

  • Two bananas
  • Two cups of vegetable drink (e.g. oat milk), water or milk
  • One cup of (whole wheat) flour
  • A pinch of salt
  • One teaspoon (tsp) baking powder
  • Optional: one to two tsp. sugar or alternative sweetener
  • Optional: one teaspoon of cinnamon

Old bananas are a real miracle cure – better not to throw away in any case

Really useful the old bananas can still be in the garden. Because the peels of brown bananas are particularly well suited as fertilizer. But caution: As the garden journal warns, only banana peels from organic fruit should be used. Because conventional bananas are treated with fungicides and are therefore not suitable as fertilizer. In principle, however, bananas are full of important nutrients for plants, just like eggshells or coffee grounds. Among them calcium, zinc, iron, magnesium and vitamins.

The application of this miracle product is quite simple. The banana peels can be worked simply as small cut pieces into the root area of the plants. It does not matter whether the peels are still fresh or were previously dried. According to research by RUHR24, nothing speaks against using the pieces of the banana itself here.

Make liquid fertilizer from old bananas: Fruit contains important nutrients

If you want to do a little more work, you can process the very ripe bananas and their peels into liquid fertilizer. Important: Unfortunately, this is not a method to capture the nutrients for a long time. This is because the liquid fertilizer should always be made fresh and used up quickly because it will mold quickly.

This is how the method works:

  • Cut fresh peels or bananas into small pieces.
  • Boil the banana pieces in water. About one quart of water is needed per ¼ lb. of pulp.
  • Let the decoction steep overnight and then filter out the solids.
  • Mix the decoction again with water at a ratio of 1:5 and then water plants with it.

Especially flowering plants benefit from the nutrients of the banana. These include roses, fuchsias and geraniums. But also tomatoes and cucumbers can be fertilized with banana.