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The fruit bowl remains a standard fixture on numerous worktops, sitting alongside the toaster and kettle. Many homes store their fruit, including bananas, apples, oranges, and others, in a bowl positioned on their counter.

A fruit bowl not only adds a hint of character to your kitchen, but it also acts as a useful prompt that you have fruit ready to consume. When food is concealed, it can quickly be overlooked, so maintaining a dedicated space for all my fruit can address this problem. Yet this location might actually be causing more damage than benefit to one specific fruit - and that's bananas.

Food storage expert Amy Cross used her Instagram page @thecrosslegacy recently to encourage households to never place bananas in fruit bowls if other fruits are present.

She said, "Don't store bananas this way! If your bananas are in your fruit bowl with other fruits, that might be why they are going back quickly.

"Apples, oranges, and bananas are not produce buddies, which means they should not be stored together. Keep bananas away from other items and ideally on a banana hook."

When you place bananas alongside other fruit that emits ethylene, such as apples, they will spoil faster than you might anticipate.

Both bananas and apples release ethylene, a gas that accelerates the ripening process and can cause the fruit to deteriorate before you can consume it.

These two fruits, together with others including kiwis and vegetables such as onions and leafy greens, are likewise influenced by ethylene.

Placing an ethylene-producing fruit in a deep, wide bowl alongside an ethylene-sensitive fruit creates conditions that partially trap the gas, which can cause your fruits to deteriorate more rapidly than desired.

Should you be planning to whip up some banana bread, adding overripe bananas to a bowl with other fruits could be precisely the trick you need. This is a particularly handy tip for those looking to accelerate the ripening process.

However, when it comes to everyday storage, it is advisable to keep your bananas well away from other produce such as apples, potatoes, and tomatoes.

Where you choose to store your bananas largely comes down to personal preference. If you tend to get through them quickly, you may not even need to pop them in the fridge to keep them fresh.

Amy suggests simply hanging bananas on a hook. The reasoning behind this is that the holder serves a far greater purpose than mere aesthetics-it allows ample air circulation around the bunch, virtually eliminates the chance of bruising, and naturally keeps them apart from other fruits.