How to choose and store raw plantain (kaya, ethakka)

By the Cochimart Kitchen Desk · Published 31 October 2026

Raw plantain: the short answer

Choose raw plantain (pachakkaya, പച്ചക്കായ) that is firm, evenly green and unbroken, with no soft dark patches. Keep it unwashed in a cool, shaded, airy spot, apart from ripe fruit, and do not put whole fingers in the fridge: cold turns the skin black. Use it while it is still green, or accept that it will slowly turn yellow and sweeter if you wait.

The same fruit goes by several names, which is why the label at a stall can confuse a new shopper. The table below sorts them out, and you can find more in our vegetable names list.

If you want to know which variety you are holding, our guide to Kerala banana varieties covers nendran, palayankodan and the others.

What raw plantain is, and why it behaves differently

Wikipedia describes cooking bananas as starchy cultivars whose fruit is generally used in cooking rather than eaten raw. It says plantains hold more starch and less sugar than dessert bananas, and that the pulp of a green plantain is hard, with a peel often so stiff that it has to be cut with a knife. As a plantain matures and turns yellow, the pulp softens and some of the starch converts to sugar.

That one fact drives everything in this guide. A green finger is a starchy, firm vegetable. A yellow one is on its way to being a sweet, soft fruit. Storage is mostly a matter of deciding which of the two you want to eat on the day.

The sap matters too. Wikipedia notes that the sap from the peel, and from the whole plant, stains clothing and hands and can be difficult to remove. That is the black residue you see on a knife and chopping board after peeling.

Is there a season?

Not really. Wikipedia points out that bananas fruit all year round, which is why plantains are such a dependable staple in the tropics. TNAU says banana bunches reach maturity from about 100 to 150 days after flowering, depending on the variety, soil, weather and elevation, and are ready to harvest 12 to 15 months after planting. Raw plantain is on Kerala stalls through the year.

For what else is plentiful in a given month, see our season calendar.

How to choose raw plantain

• Colour. For a firm, starchy fruit, choose fingers that are fully green. A yellow blush at the tip or along the ridge means ripening has begun. That is fine if you want a softer, sweeter fruit, but it will not keep.
• Feel. The finger should feel heavy and solid when you squeeze it gently. Soft spots, dents or a spongy feel mean it has been knocked about or is ripening unevenly.
• Skin. Look for an intact peel. Splits, deep gouges and wet or sunken dark patches let decay in. Light surface scuffs and a few dry brown flecks are only cosmetic.
• Shape. FAO lists the angularity of the fingers as a ripeness index in bananas. In practice, plump, rounded fingers have filled out more than thin, sharply ridged ones, so they usually give a better yield after peeling.
• Stem end. The cut end and the crown where the fingers join the hand should look fresh. A black, mouldy or slimy crown is a warning sign.

How to store raw plantain at home

Whole green fingers

1. Keep the fruit dry and do not wash it before storing. Wipe off loose dirt only.
2. Spread the fingers out, or hang the hand, in a cool, shaded, well-ventilated place such as a store room, a ventilated cupboard or a shaded corner of a verandah.
3. Keep them away from the stove, direct sun and damp floors, and do not seal them in a plastic bag.
4. Store them apart from ripe fruit. FAO explains that ripening fruit gives off ethylene, a plant hormone that speeds ripening and ageing in sensitive produce, and that ethylene producers and sensitive crops should not share the same storage space. A ripe banana, mango or papaya next to your plantain will push it towards yellow.
5. Check every day or two and remove any finger that is softening.

Under controlled cold storage at 13 to 15 degrees Celsius and 90 to 95 percent humidity, FAO gives a storage life of 7 to 28 days for plantain. A Kerala kitchen is warmer and less controlled, so expect a few days to about a week while the fruit stays green. That is our practical estimate rather than a measured figure.

Why the fridge is a bad idea for whole fingers

FAO lists banana among the chilling-sensitive crops of tropical origin and explains that damage appears when the fruit goes back to room temperature. In banana, it says, the skin blackens and the fruit softens. FAO puts the critical temperature for tropical crops at about 7 to 15 degrees Celsius, and a household fridge is far colder than that. A whole raw plantain left in the fridge for a day or two can come out black-skinned and soft.

Keep the fingers in a cool room instead, and use the fridge only for peeled or cut pieces, as below.

Peeled and cut pieces

Once peeled, raw plantain is a perishable food. Put the pieces in a clean covered container in the fridge, and use them within a day or two. The cut surfaces tend to darken, which is a cosmetic change. If the pieces turn slimy, smell sour or show mould, discard them.

Slowing down or speeding up ripening

Wikipedia explains that export bananas are picked green and ripened in rooms filled with ethylene, which triggers an enzyme that turns starch into sugar and another that softens the flesh. The same page says too-green bananas can be put in a brown paper bag with an apple or tomato overnight to speed ripening.

• To slow ripening: keep the fruit cool, shaded and airy, away from ripe fruit, and do not bag it.
• To speed it up: put it in a paper bag with a ripe apple, tomato or banana for a day, then check it.

What each stage is good for

Wikipedia notes that yellow plantains can be peeled like ordinary bananas, though they are usually cooked, and that when fried they tend to caramelize. The point for the shopper is simple: match the stage to the use before you buy a bunch.

Peeling safely

• Rub a little oil on your hands, or wear kitchen gloves, to keep the sap off your skin.
• Use a knife to trim the ends and cut a shallow line along each ridge, since green skin does not peel like ripe skin.
• Wipe the knife and board straight away, because the sap dries into a dark film.

When to throw raw plantain away

• Skin that is split and wet, or leaking juice.
• Fingers that are soft and mushy through the whole fruit, not only at one spot.
• Mould on the crown, the cut end or the flesh.
• A sour, fermented or musty smell.

A small bruise can be cut away generously. If decay has spread, discard the finger and wash the surface where it sat.

Related guides

Other starchy staples have their own storage rules. See our guides to tapioca, sweet potato and elephant foot yam, check fruit names in Malayalam and English, or build a shopping list with our grocery list maker.

Sources and useful links

• FAO, Manual for the preparation and sale of fruits and vegetables, Chapter 3: Storage
• FAO, Manual for the preparation and sale of fruits and vegetables, Chapter 2: Preparation for the market
• TNAU Agritech Portal, Banana (varieties and harvest)
• Wikipedia: Cooking banana
• Wikipedia: Banana (ripening)

Frequently asked questions