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Banana is the common name for herbaceous plants of the genus Musa, and is also the name given to the fruit of these plants. Today, they are cultivated throughout the Tropics.
In popular culture and commerce, "banana" usually refers to soft, sweet "dessert" bananas that are usually eaten raw.
Banana plants are of the family Musaceae. They are cultivated primarily for their fruit. The main or upright growth can obtain a height of up to 2–8 m, with leaves of up to 3.5 m in length. Each pseudostem produces a single bunch of bananas, before dying and being replaced by a new pseudostem.
The banana fruit grow in hanging clusters, with up to 20 fruit to a tier (called a hand), and 3-20 tiers to a bunch. The total of the hanging clusters is known as a bunch, or commercially as a "banana stem", and can weigh from 30–50 kg. The fruit averages 125 g, of which approximately 75% is water and 25% dry matter content.
Each individual fruit (known as a banana or 'finger') has a protective outer layer (a peel or skin) with a fleshy edible inner portion.
Bananas are a valuable source of Vitamin A, Vitamin B6, Vitamin C, and potassium.
Bananas are classified either as dessert bananas (meaning they are yellow and fully ripe when eaten) or as green cooking bananas. Almost all export bananas are of the dessert types; however, only about 10-15% of all production is for export, with the U.S. and EU being the dominant buyers.
Bananas come in a variety of sizes and colors; most cultivars are yellow when ripe but some are red or purple. The ripe fruit is easily peeled and eaten raw or cooked. Depending upon cultivar and ripeness, the flesh can be starchy to sweet, and firm to mushy. Unripe or green bananas and plantains are used in cooking and are the staple starch of many tropical populations.
Even when only transported within their country of origin, ripe bananas suffer a high rate of damage and loss.
In global commerce, by far the most important of these banana cultivars is 'Cavendish', which accounts for the vast bulk of bananas exported from the tropics.
The most important properties making 'Cavendish' the main export banana are related to transport and shelf life rather than taste.
Export bananas are picked green, and then usually ripened in ripening rooms when they arrive in their country of destination. These are special rooms made air-tight and filled with ethylene gas to induce ripening.
While these bananas will ripen more slowly, the flavour will be notably richer, and the banana peel can be allowed to reach a yellow/brown speckled phase, and yet retain a firm flesh inside. Thus, shelf life is somewhat extended.
The flavour and texture of bananas are affected by the temperature at which they ripen. Bananas are refrigerated to between 13.5 and 15 °C (57 and 59 °F) during transportation. At lower temperatures, the ripening of bananas permanently stalls, and the bananas will eventually turn grey.
The leaves of the banana are large, flexible, and waterproof; they are used in many ways, including as umbrellas and to wrap food for cooking, carrying and packing cooked foods.
Banana chips are a snack produced from dehydrated or fried banana or, preferably, plantain slices, which have a dark brown colour and an intense banana taste. Unlike other fruits, it is difficult to extract juice from bananas because when compressed a banana simply turns to pulp.
Bananas are grown in 132 countries worldwide, more than any other fruit crop.
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Last Updated: 08/28/2007 12:30:20 PM
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