Banana Skins in Sea Water

[nicolab6]

A very odd question I know, but does anyone know how long it takes a banana skin to degrade in sea water?

[Rystan]

I did a little research for you on this. Turns out a banana peel generally takes 3-5 weeks to deteriorate (or decompose) in regular, medium-temperature, medium-humidity conditions. Sea water would absorb into the peel until the concentration of salt within the peel matched the concentration of the surrounding water. As bananas are quite low in salts of any kind, the peel could predictably absorb quite a great deal of water causing it to come apart much more quickly. I was unable to get a number for this, but a reasonable guess could be anywhere from a few days to a week. I hope this helps.

[nicolab6]

Thanks for this

[TheMadProfessor]

A banana skin decomposes before your eyes in the air. In fresh or saline water, comparable vegetable material decomposes within days or weeks - think leaves, dead reeds etc. The main difference is that banana skins float and are visible for a while so it isn't a good look. The same applies to citrus peel. Both are probably unsightly and offensive to our sensibilities but both will decompose in a typical, temperate fresh water or marine environment, within a few weeks. They don't hang around for many years, as some keep repeating. That is plain wrong.