How Bananas Work
Turn the world's most ubiquitous fruit into your kitchen superpower. Learn how to control the ripening clock, cook with bananas at every shade from green to black, and uncover the wild history of the cloned berry on your counter.
Like Duolingo, but for How Bananas Work. Tomo turns the whole topic into a game you play five minutes a day, until it actually sticks.
A short one: 12 levels across 2 sections, about 24 minutes end to end, roughly 5 days at five minutes a day. It moves through Getting the Most from Every Bunch and Looking Beyond the Standard Yellow. It starts from scratch.
Free forever · No credit card · iPhone & Android
Key ideas in How Bananas Work
- Bananas give off ethylene gas primarily through their crown and stems
- Bananas also absorb ethylene gas, which triggers them to produce even more ethylene in a chain reaction
- Leaving bananas bunched together concentrates this gas and ripens all nearby fruit rapidly
- Most of a banana's ethylene gas escapes directly through the cut stem
- Sealing the stem tightly with plastic wrap or foil reduces the escape and spread of ethylene gas
- Covering the stems can keep bananas at peak yellow firmness for several extra days
- Trapping green bananas in a closed paper bag holds their own ethylene gas around them
- A closed paper bag allows air exchange while concentrating ethylene, accelerating ripening in 24 to 48 hours
- A plastic bag traps too much moisture and causes mold, whereas paper breathes while holding the gas
- Cold temperatures trigger enzymes in the banana peel that make it turn dark brown or black quickly
- While the peel discolors in the fridge, the chilly air pauses ripening inside the fruit
- Opening a banana by snapping the stem often crushes the soft top fruit neck
- Pinching the bottom nub (the blossom end) pops the peel open effortlessly without squeezing the pulp
- Peeling upward from the blossom end naturally pulls the fibrous strings away with the skin
- Refrigerated bananas retain firm, delicious edible flesh for up to a week despite brown peels
- Unripe green bananas are packed with starch rather than sweet sugars, giving them a firm, savory texture similar to potatoes
You've tried the other tabs
Thirty open tabs. Four facts you actually kept.
You watched. You nodded. By Sunday it was gone.
One answer, then back to scrolling.
Eight weeks. You meant to finish. You didn't.
Tomo gives How Bananas Work the Duolingo treatment: levels, streaks, and quick quizzes that test what you just learned. That game loop is what the tabs above never had, so it's the one you actually finish.
Here's what playing it feels like
A real question from this course. Take your best guess.
What happens when a banana absorbs ethylene gas from the air around it?
Get it right to open this lesson and 11 more in the app.
How to learn How Bananas Work, step by step
Go in order. 12 short levels across 2 sections, about 24 minutes in all, five minutes a day.
- 1
Getting the Most from Every Bunch
- Controlling the Ripening Clock
- Cooking Across the Color Spectrum
- 2
Looking Beyond the Standard Yellow
- Spotting and Using Alternative Varieties
- The Cloned Fruit and the Lost Flavor
2 sections · 4 units · 12 levels. Built to play, not to enroll.
Questions about How Bananas Work
How do I learn How Bananas Work?
Go in order: start with Getting the Most from Every Bunch, then Looking Beyond the Standard Yellow. On Tomo that's 12 short levels, about 24 minutes in all, played five minutes a day. Start free and play the first level in under a minute.
Is there a Duolingo-style app for How Bananas Work?
Yes. Tomo works like Duolingo: short daily lessons, streaks and quick quizzes. How Bananas Work is one of its free courses, and you can type any other topic to get a course of your own.
Is the How Bananas Work course free?
Yes. How Bananas Work is playable on Tomo's free plan, which doesn't expire. No credit card, no waitlist. Download the app and start your first lesson.
How long does it take to learn How Bananas Work?
12 levels across 2 sections, about 24 minutes of play in total. It's built for five minutes a day, so you finish it a little at a time instead of all at once.
Do I need any background to start How Bananas Work?
No. It's pitched at a beginner level, so it starts where you are and builds up. If you can tap a phone, you can start.
Tomo is in ChatGPT
Tomo is also a ChatGPT plugin: the same playable courses, built and played inside your chat.
Add Tomo to ChatGPT- What to ask
- “Make me a Tomo course on black holes.” “Turn this chat into a Tomo course.”
- What you get
- Quick questions with instant feedback, hearts and stars, ready to play in about a minute.
- Where it goes
- No sign-up to start. Connect your Tomo account and your streak carries on in the app.
You pick the voice
How Bananas Work is taught in the Bestie style: your friend who just gets it. Want a different feel? In the app you can spin up the same topic in any of Tomo's teaching styles. Same facts, totally different vibe.
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Start How Bananas Work today.
Download Tomo, search How Bananas Work, and play your first lesson in under a minute.