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wikiHow to Handle Bananas

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Handle bananas with care to avoid contracting diseases. The type of banana referred to is "Bluefield" (the variety that is usually sold at the market) and not the cooking or apple banana. The Bluefield banana are the biggest variety of banana and their bunches are big. These bunches provide spacious nesting spaces for roof rats to protect them from the elements and their predators.


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    Read about the types of diseases that rats spread and of the other fruits and vegetables that rats like to feed on from reputable sources. Articles from the University of Hawaii and University of Florida were used to validate this article. These two links are at the bottom of this article in the Sources and Citations section, click on them.
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    After handling bananas wash your hands thoroughly with soap and water. When you harvest fruit do not touch your eyes, nose and mouth with your hands. Be especially careful, when eating your meals in the field and do not touch your food. Always wash your hands, even washing with just water reduces the bacteria count on your hands. Always carry soap and lots of water to wash your hands with.
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    Some bananas have their stems missing and some of the flesh is exposed - do not eat that part.
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    Do not touch a peeled banana after touching the banana skin.
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    Put the skins in a bag and knot it to contain the smell and germs.

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    • Bananas are delicious and easy on the digestion system, but use care in handling them. The purpose of this article is not to dissuade the readers from eating bananas.
    • When in Third World countries and dealing with people from those countries be careful because of their lower sanitary practices standards.


    • Bananas are washed before marketing, but before they are washed, are filthy with a lot of urine and feces on them.
    • Rats are omnivorous and their feces have harmful bacteria. Rats leave their urine and feces in the banana bunch, they do not go to the ground to urinate or bury their feces. The rat's nest is similar to a bird's nest.
    • When bananas are harvested it is common to see the rats jumping out of the bunches. At other times, the rats are gone before the plant is chopped down but in the packing area there will be a huge mound of nesting material that are found in many banana bunches

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    Categories: Food Selection and Storage

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