Banana

Abananais an elongated, ediblefruit–botanically a berry– produced by several kinds of large treelikeherbaceousflowering plantsin thegenusMusa. In some countries,cooking bananasare called plantains, distinguishing them fromdessert bananas. The fruit is variable in size, color and firmness, but is usually elongated and curved, with soft flesh rich instarchcovered with apeel, which may have a variety of colors when ripe. It grows upward in clusters near the top of the plant. Almost all modern edible seedless (parthenocarp) cultivated bananas come from two wild species –Musa acuminataandMusa balbisiana, or hybrids of them.
Musaspecies are native to tropicalIndomalayaandAustralia; they were probablydomesticatedinNew Guinea. They are grown in 135 countries, primarily for their fruit, and to a lesser extent to makebanana paperandtextiles, while some are grown asornamental plants. The world's largest producers of bananas in 2022 were India and China, which together accounted for approximately 26% of total production. Bananas are eaten raw or cooked in recipes varying from curries tobanana chips,fritters, fruit preserves, or simply baked or steamed.
Worldwide, there is no sharp distinction between dessert "bananas" and cooking "plantains": this works well enough in the Americas and Europe, but it breaks down inSoutheast Asiawhere many more kinds of bananas are grown and eaten. The term "banana" is applied also to other members of the genusMusa, such as thescarlet banana(Musa coccinea), thepink banana(Musa velutina), and theFe'i bananas. Members of the genusEnsete, such as thesnow banana(Ensete glaucum) and the economically importantfalse banana(Ensete ventricosum) of Africa are sometimes included. Both genera are in the banana family,Musaceae.
Bananaplantationsare subject to damage by parasiticnematodesand insect pests, and tofungalandbacterialdiseases, one of the most serious beingPanama diseasewhich is caused by aFusariumfungus. This andblack sigatokathreaten the production ofCavendish bananas, the main kind eaten in the Western world, which is atriploidMusa acuminata. Plant breeders are seeking new varieties, but these are difficult to breed given that commercial varieties are seedless. To enable future breeding, bananagermplasmis conserved in multiplegene banksaround the world.
The banana plant is the largestherbaceousflowering plant.All the above-ground parts of a banana plant grow from a structure called acorm.Plants are normally tall and fairly sturdy with atreelikeappearance, but what appears to be a trunk is actually apseudostemcomposed of multiple leaf-stalks (petioles). Bananas grow in a wide variety of soils, as long as it is at least 60 centimetres (2.0 ft) deep, has good drainage and is not compacted.They are fast-growing plants, with a growth rate of up to 1.6 metres (5.2 ft) per day.
The leaves of banana plants are composed of a stalk (petiole) and a blade (lamina). The base of the petiole widens to form a sheath; the tightly packed sheaths make up the pseudostem, which is all that supports the plant. The edges of the sheath meet when it is first produced, making it tubular. As new growth occurs in the centre of the pseudostem, the edges are forced apart.Cultivated banana plants vary in height depending on the variety and growing conditions. Most are around 5 m (16 ft) tall, with a range from 'Dwarf Cavendish' plants at around 3 m (10 ft) to 'Gros Michel' at 7 m (23 ft) or more.Leaves are spirally arranged and may grow 2.7 metres (8.9 ft) long and 60 cm (2.0 ft) wide.When a banana plant is mature, the corm stops producing new leaves and begins to form a flower spike orinflorescence. A stem develops which grows up inside the pseudostem, carrying the immature inflorescence until eventually it emerges at the top.Each pseudostem normally produces a single inflorescence, also known as the "banana heart". After fruiting, the pseudostem dies, but offshoots will normally have developed from the base, so that the plant as a whole isperennial.The inflorescence contains many petal-likebractsbetween rows of flowers. The female flowers (which can develop into fruit) appear in rows further up the stem (closer to the leaves) from the rows of male flowers. The ovary isinferior, meaning that the tiny petals and other flower parts appear at the tip of the ovary.
The banana fruits develop from thebanana heart, in a large hanging cluster called abunch, made up of around nine tiers calledhands, with up to 20 fruits to a hand. A bunch can weigh 22–65 kilograms (49–143 lb).The stalk ends of the fruits connect up to therachispart of the inflorescence. Opposite the stalk end, is theblossomend, where the remnants of the flower deviate the texture from the rest of the flesh inside the peel.
The fruit has been described as a "leathery berry".There is a protective outer layer (apeelor skin) with numerous long, thin strings (Vascular bundles), which run lengthwise between the skin and the edible inner white flesh. The peel is less palatable and usually discarded after peeling the fruit, optimally done from the blossom end, but often started from the stalk end. The inner part of the common yellow dessert variety can be split lengthwise into three sections that correspond to the inner portions of the threecarpelsby manually deforming the unopened fruit.In cultivated varieties, fertile seeds are usually absent.
A 2011 phylogenomic analysis using nuclear genes indicates thephylogenyof some representatives of theMusaceaefamily. Major edible kinds of banana are shown inboldface.
Work by Li and colleagues in 2024 identifies three subspecies ofM. acuminata, namely sspp.banksii,malaccensis, andzebrina, as contributing substantially to theBan,Dh, andZesubgenomes oftriploidcultivated bananas respectively.
The genusMusawas created byCarl Linnaeusin 1753.The name may be derived fromAntonius Musa, physician to the EmperorAugustus, or Linnaeus may have adapted the Arabic word for banana,mauz.The ultimate origin ofmusamay be in theTrans–New Guinea languages, which have words similar to "#muku"; from there the name was borrowed into theAustronesian languagesand across Asia, accompanying the cultivation of the banana as it was brought to new areas, via theDravidian languagesof India, into Arabic as aWanderwort.The word "banana" is thought to be of West African origin, possibly from theWolofwordbanaana, and passed intoEnglishviaSpanishorPortuguese.
Musais the type genus in the familyMusaceae. TheAPG III systemassigns Musaceae to the orderZingiberales, part of thecommelinidclade of themonocotyledonousflowering plants. Some 70 species ofMusawere recognized by theWorld Checklist of Selected Plant Familiesas of January 2013;several produce edible fruit, while others are cultivated as ornamentals.
The classification of cultivated bananas has long been a problematic issue for taxonomists. Linnaeus originally placed bananas into two species based only on their uses as food:Musa sapientumfor dessert bananas andMusa paradisiacaforplantains. More species names were added, but this approach proved to be inadequate for the number ofcultivarsin the primarycenter of diversityof the genus, Southeast Asia. Many of these cultivars were given names that were later discovered to besynonyms.
In a series of papers published from 1947 onward, Ernest Cheesman showed that Linnaeus'sMusa sapientumandMusa paradisiacawere cultivars and descendants of two wild seed-producing species,Musa acuminataandMusa balbisiana, both first described byLuigi Aloysius Colla.Cheesman recommended the abolition of Linnaeus's species in favor of reclassifying bananas according to three morphologically distinct groups of cultivars – those primarily exhibiting the botanical characteristics ofMusa balbisiana, those primarily exhibiting the botanical characteristics ofMusa acuminata, and those with characteristics of both.Researchers Norman Simmonds and Ken Shepherd proposed a genome-based nomenclature system in 1955. This system eliminated almost all the difficulties and inconsistencies of the earlier classification of bananas based on assigning scientific names to cultivated varieties. Despite this, the original names are still recognized by some authorities, leading to confusion.
The acceptedscientific namesfor most groups of cultivated bananas areMusa acuminataCollaandMusa balbisianaCollafor the ancestral species, andMusa×paradisiacaL.for the hybrid of the two.
An unusual feature of the genetics of the banana is thatchloroplast DNAis inherited maternally, whilemitochondrial DNAis inherited paternally. This facilitates taxonomic study of species and subspecies relationships.
In regions such as North America and Europe,Musafruits offered for sale can be divided into small sweet "bananas" eaten raw when ripe as a dessert, and large starchy "plantains" orcooking bananas, which do not have to be ripe. Linnaeus made this distinction when naming two "species" ofMusa.Members of the "plantain subgroup" of banana cultivars, most important as food in West Africa and Latin America, correspond to this description, having long pointed fruit. They are described by Ploetz et al. as "true" plantains, distinct from other cooking bananas.
The cooking bananas of East Africa belong to a different group, theEast African Highland bananas.Further, small farmers in Colombia grow a much wider range of cultivars than large commercial plantations do,and in Southeast Asia—the center of diversity for bananas, both wild and cultivated—the distinction between "bananas" and "plantains" does not work. Many bananas are used both raw and cooked. There are starchy cooking bananas which are smaller than those eaten raw. The range of colors, sizes and shapes is far wider than in those grown or sold in Africa, Europe or the Americas.Southeast Asian languages do not make the distinction between "bananas" and "plantains" that is made in English. Thus both Cavendish dessert bananas andSaba cooking bananasare calledpisangin Malaysia and Indonesia,kluaiin Thailand andchuốiin Vietnam.Fe'i bananas, grown and eaten in the islands of the Pacific, are derived from a different wild species. Most Fe'i bananas are cooked, butKarat bananas, which are short and squat with bright red skins, are eaten raw.
The earliest domestication of bananas (Musaspp.) was from naturally occurringparthenocarpic(seedless) individuals ofMusa banksiiinNew Guinea.These were cultivated byPapuansbefore the arrival ofAustronesian-speakers. Numerousphytolithsof bananas have been recovered from theKuk Swamparchaeological site and dated to around 10,000 to 6,500BP.Foraginghumans in this area began domestication in the latePleistoceneusingtransplantationand earlycultivationmethods.By the early to middle of theHolocenethe process was complete.From New Guinea, cultivated bananas spread westward intoIsland Southeast Asia. Theyhybridizedwith other (possibly independently domesticated)subspeciesofMusa acuminataas well asM. balbisianain the Philippines, northern New Guinea, and possiblyHalmahera. These hybridization events produced the triploidcultivars of bananascommonly grown today.The banana was one of the key crops thatenabled farming to beginin Papua New Guinea.
From Island Southeast Asia, bananas became part of the staple domesticated crops ofAustronesian peoples.
These ancient introductions resulted in the banana subgroup now known as thetrue plantains, which include theEast African Highland bananasand thePacific plantains(theIholenaandMaoli-Popo'ulusubgroups). East African Highland bananas originated from banana populations introduced to Madagascar probably from the region betweenJava,Borneo, andNew Guinea; while Pacific plantains were introduced to the Pacific Islands from either eastern New Guinea or theBismarck Archipelago.
21st century discoveries ofphytolithsin Cameroon dating to the first millennium BCEtriggered a debate about the date of first cultivation in Africa. There is linguistic evidence that bananas were known in East Africa or Madagascar around that time.The earliest prior evidence indicates that cultivation dates to no earlier than the late 6th century AD.Malagasy peoplecolonized Madagascar from South East Asia around 600 AD onwards.Glucanaseand two other proteins specific to bananas were found indental calculusfrom the earlyIron Age(12th century BCE)PhilistinesinTel Eraniin the southernLevant.
Another wave of introductions later spread bananas to other parts of tropical Asia, particularly Indochina and the Indian subcontinent.Some evidence suggests bananas were known to theIndus Valley civilisationfrom phytoliths recovered from theKot Dijiarchaeological site in Pakistan.Southeast Asia remains the region ofprimary diversityof the banana. Areas of secondary diversity are found in Africa, indicating a long history of banana cultivation there.
The banana may have been present in isolated locations elsewhere in the Middle East on the eve ofIslam. Thespread of Islamwas followed by far-reaching diffusion. There are numerous references to it in Islamic texts (such as poems andhadiths) beginning in the 9th century. By the 10th century, the banana appeared in texts fromPalestineand Egypt. From there it diffused into North Africa andMuslim Iberiaduring theArab Agricultural Revolution.An article on banana tree cultivation is included inIbn al-'Awwam's 12th-century agricultural work,Kitāb al-Filāḥa(Book on Agriculture).During the Middle Ages, bananas fromGranadawere considered among the best in the Arab world.Bananas were certainly grown in the ChristianKingdom of Cyprusby the late medieval period. Writing in 1458, the Italian traveller and writerGabriele Capodilistawrote favourably of the extensive farm produce of the estates at Episkopi, near modern-dayLimassol, including the region's banana plantations.
In theearly modern period, bananas were encountered by European explorers during theMagellan expeditionin 1521, in bothGuamand thePhilippines. Lacking a name for the fruit, the ship's historianAntonio Pigafettadescribed them as "figs more than onepalmlong."Bananas were introduced toSouth Americaby Portuguese sailors who brought them from West Africa in the 16th century.Southeast Asian banana cultivars, as well asabacagrown for fibers, were introduced to North and Central America by the Spanish from the Philippines, via theManila galleons.
In the 15th and 16th centuries, Portuguese colonists started banana plantations in the Atlantic Islands, Brazil, and western Africa.North Americans began consuming bananas on a small scale at very high prices shortly after the Civil War, though it was only in the 1880s that the food became more widespread.As late as theVictorian Era, bananas were not widely known in Europe, although they were available.
The earliest modern plantations originated in Jamaica and the relatedWestern Caribbean Zone, including most ofCentral America. Plantation cultivation involved the combination of modern transportation networks of steamships and railroads with the development of refrigeration that allowed more time between harvesting and ripening. North American shippers likeLorenzo Dow BakerandAndrew Preston, the founders of theBoston Fruit Companystarted this process in the 1870s, with the participation of railroad builders likeMinor C. Keith. Development led to the multi-national giant corporations likeChiquitaandDole.These companies weremonopolistic,vertically integrated(controlling growing, processing, shipping and marketing) and usually used political manipulation to buildenclave economies(internally self-sufficient, virtually tax exempt, and export-oriented, contributing little to the host economy). Their political maneuvers, which gave rise to the termbanana republicfor states such as Honduras and Guatemala, included working with local elites and their rivalries to influence politics or playing the international interests of the United States, especially during theCold War, to keep the political climate favorable to their interests.
The vast majority of the world's bananas are cultivated for family consumption or for sale on local markets. They are grown in large quantities in India, while many other Asian and African countries host numerous small-scale banana growers who sell at least some of their crop.Peasants with smallholdings of 1 to 2 acres in the Caribbean produce bananas for the world market, often alongside other crops.In many tropical countries, the main cultivars produce green (unripe) bananas used forcooking. Because bananas and plantains produce fruit year-round, they provide a valuable food source during thehunger seasonbetween harvests of other crops, and are thus important for globalfood security.
Bananas are propagatedasexuallyfrom offshoots. The plant is allowed to produce two shoots at a time; a larger one for immediate fruiting and a smaller "sucker" or "follower" to produce fruit in 6–8 months.As a non-seasonal crop, bananas are available fresh year-round.They are grown in some 135 countries.
In global commerce in 2009, by far the most important cultivars belonged to the triploidMusa acuminataAAA groupof Cavendish group bananas.Disease is threatening the production of the Cavendish banana worldwide. It is unclear if any existing cultivar can replace Cavendish bananas, so varioushybridisationandgenetic engineeringprograms are attempting to create a disease-resistant, mass-market banana. One such strain that has emerged is the Taiwanese Cavendish or Formosana.
Export bananas are picked green, and ripened in special rooms upon arrival in the destination country. These rooms are air-tight and filled withethylene gasto induce ripening. This mimics the normal production of this gas as a ripening hormone.Ethylene stimulates the formation ofamylase, anenzymethat breaks down starch into sugar, influencing the taste. Ethylene signals the production ofpectinase, a different enzyme which breaks down thepectinbetween the cells of the banana, causing the banana to soften as it ripens.The vivid yellow color many consumers in temperate climates associate with bananas is caused by ripening around 18 °C (64 °F), and does not occur in Cavendish bananas ripened in tropical temperatures (over 27 °C (81 °F)), which leaves them green.
Bananas are transported over long distances from the tropics to world markets.To obtain maximum shelf life, harvest comes before the fruit is mature. The fruit requires careful handling, rapid transport to ports, cooling, and refrigerated shipping. The goal is to prevent the bananas from producing their natural ripening agent, ethylene. This technology allows storage and transport for 3–4 weeks at 13 °C (55 °F). On arrival, bananas are held at about 17 °C (63 °F) and treated with a low concentration of ethylene. After a few days, the fruit begins to ripen and is distributed for final sale. Ripe bananas can be held for a few days at home. If bananas are too green, they can be put in a brown paper bag with an apple or tomato overnight to speed up the ripening process.
The excessive use of fertilizers contributes greatly toeutrophicationin streams and lakes, harming aquatic life, while expanding banana production has led to deforestation. As soil nutrients are depleted, more forest is cleared for plantations. This causes soil erosion and increases the frequency of flooding.
Voluntary sustainability standardssuch asRainforest AllianceandFairtradeare being used to address some of these issues. Banana production certified in this way grew rapidly at the start of the 21st century to represent 36% of banana exports by 2016.However, such standards are applied mainly in countries which focus on the export market, such as Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, and Guatemala; worldwide they cover only 8–10% of production.
Mutation breedingcan be used in this crop.Aneuploidyis a source of significant variation inallotriploidvarieties. For one example, it can be a source ofTR4 resistance.Lab protocolshave been devised to screen for such aberrations and for possible resulting disease resistances.WildMusaspp.provide useful resistance genetics, and are vital to breeding for TR4 resistance, as shown inintrogressedresistance from wild relatives.Bananas form a hybrid-polyploidcomplex; hybrids can be diploid, triploid, tetraploid, or pentaploid, i.e. they may have 2, 3, 4, or 5 sets ofchromosomes. This makes them difficult to breed as hybrids are often sterile, in addition to the challenge of breeding seedless (parthenocarpic) varieties.
TheHonduran Foundation for Agricultural Researchhas bred a seedless banana that is resistant to both Panama disease and black Sigatoka disease. The team made use of the fact that "seedless" varieties do rarely produce seeds; they obtained around fifteen seeds from some 30,000 cultivated plants, pollinated by hand with pollen from wild Asian bananas.
As of 2018, bananas are exported in larger volume and to a larger value than any other fruit.In 2022, world production of bananas and plantains combined was 179 million tonnes, led by India and China with a combined total of 26% of global production. Other major producers were Uganda, Indonesia, the Philippines, Nigeria and Ecuador.As reported for 2013, total world exports were 20 million tonnes of bananas and 859,000 tonnes of plantains.Ecuador and the Philippines were the leading exporters with 5.4 and 3.3 million tonnes, respectively, and the Dominican Republic was the leading exporter of plantains with 210,350 tonnes.
Bananas are damaged by a variety of pests, especially nematodes and insects.
Banana roots are subject to damage from multiple species of parasiticnematodes.Radopholus similiscauses nematode root rot, the most serious nematode disease of bananas in economic terms.Root-knot is the result of infection by species ofMeloidogyne,while root-lesion is caused by species ofPratylenchus,and spiral nematode root damage is the result of infection byHelicotylenchusspecies.
Among the main insect pests of banana cultivation are two beetles that cause substantial economic losses, the banana borerCosmopolites sordidusand the banana stem weevilOdoiporus longicollis. Other significant pests includeaphidsand scarring beetles.
Although in no danger of outright extinction, bananas of the Cavendish group, which dominate the global market, are under threat.There is a need to enrich bananabiodiversityby producing diverse new banana varieties, not just focusing on the Cavendish.Its predecessor 'Gros Michel', discovered in the 1820s, was similarly dominant but had to be replaced after widespread infections of Panama disease.Monocroppingof Cavendish similarly leaves it susceptible to disease and so threatens both commercial cultivation and small-scale subsistence farming.Within the data gathered from the genes of hundreds of bananas, the botanist Julie Sardos has found several wild banana ancestors currently unknown to scientists, whose genes could provide a means of defense against banana crop diseases.
Some commentators have remarked that those variants which could replace what much of the world considers a "typical banana" are so different that most people would not consider them the same fruit, and blame the decline of the banana onmonogeneticcultivation driven by short-term commercial motives.Overall,fungal diseasesare disproportionately important tosmall island developing states.
Panama diseaseis caused by aFusariumsoilfungus, which enters the plants through the roots and travels with water into the trunk and leaves, producinggelsand gums that cut off the flow of water and nutrients, causing the plant towilt, and exposing the rest of the plant to lethal amounts of sunlight. Prior to 1960, almost all commercial banana production centered on the Gros Michel cultivar, which was highly susceptible.Cavendish was chosen as the replacement for Gros Michel because, among resistant cultivars, it produces the highest qualityfruit. It requires more care during shipping,and its quality compared to Gros Michel is debated.
Fusarium wilt TR4, a reinvigorated strain of Panama disease, was discovered in 1993. This virulent form of Fusarium wilt has destroyed Cavendish plantations in several southeast Asian countries and spread to Australia and India.As the soil-based fungi can easily be carried on boots, clothing, or tools, the wilt spread to the Americas despite years of preventive efforts.Without genetic diversity, Cavendish is highly susceptible to TR4, and the disease endangers its commercial production worldwide.The only known defense to TR4 isgenetic resistance.This is conferred either byRGA2, a gene isolated from a TR4-resistantdiploidbanana, or by thenematode-derived Ced9.This may be achieved bygenetic modification.
Black sigatokais a fungal leaf spot disease first observed in Fiji in 1963 or 1964. It is caused by theascomyceteMycosphaerella fijiensis. The disease, also called black leaf streak, has spread to banana plantations throughout the tropics from infected banana leaves used as packing material. It affects all main cultivars of bananas and plantains (including the Cavendish cultivars), impedingphotosynthesisby blackening parts of the leaves, eventually killing the entire leaf. Starved for energy, fruit production falls by 50% or more, and the bananas that do growripenprematurely, making them unsuitable for export. The fungus has shown ever-increasing resistance to treatment; spraying with fungicides may be required as often as 50 times a year. Better strategies, withintegrated pest management, are needed.
Banana bunchy top virusis a plant virus of the genusBabuvirus, familyNanonviridaeaffectingMusaspp. (including banana, abaca, plantain and ornamental bananas) andEnsetespp. in the familyMusaceae.Banana bunchy top disease symptoms include dark green streaks of variable length in leaf veins, midribs and petioles. Leaves become short and stunted as the disease progresses, becoming 'bunched' at the apex of the plant. Infected plants may produce no fruit or the fruit bunch may not emerge from the pseudostem.The virus is transmitted by the banana aphidPentalonia nigronervosaand is widespread in Southeast Asia, Asia, the Philippines, Taiwan, Oceania and parts of Africa. There is no cure, but it can be effectively controlled by the eradication of diseased plants and the use of virus-free planting material.No resistant cultivars have been found, but varietal differences in susceptibility have been reported. The commercially important Cavendish subgroup is severely affected.
Banana bacterial wiltis a bacterial disease caused byXanthomonas campestrispv.musacearum.First identified on a close relative of bananas,Ensete ventricosum, in Ethiopia in the 1960s,The disease was first seen in Uganda in 2001 affecting all banana cultivars. Since then it has been diagnosed in Central and East Africa, including the banana growing regions of Rwanda, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Tanzania, Kenya, Burundi, and Uganda.
Given the narrow range ofgenetic diversitypresent in bananas and the many threats viabiotic(pests and diseases) andabioticthreats (such asdrought) stress,conservationof the full spectrum of bananagenetic resourcesis ongoing.In 2024, the economist Pascal Liu of theFAOdescribed the impact ofglobal warmingas an "enormous threat" to the world supply of bananas.
Bananagermplasmis conserved in many national and regionalgene banks, and at the world's largest banana collection, the InternationalMusaGermplasm Transit Centre, managed byBioversity Internationaland hosted atKU Leuvenin Belgium.SinceMusacultivars are mostly seedless, they are conserved by three main methods:in vivo(planted in field collections),in vitro(as plantlets in test tubes within a controlled environment), and bycryopreservation(meristemsconserved inliquid nitrogenat −196 °C).
Genes from wild banana species are conserved asDNAand as cryopreservedpollen.Seeds from wild species are sometimes conserved, although less commonly, as they are difficult to regenerate. In addition, bananas and theircrop wild relativesare conservedin situ, in the wild natural habitats where they evolved and continue to do so. Diversity is also conserved in farmers' fields where continuous cultivation, adaptation and improvement of cultivars is often carried out by small-scale farmers growing traditional local cultivars.
A raw banana (not including the peel) is 75% water, 23%carbohydrates, 1%protein, and contains negligiblefat. A reference amount of 100 grams (3.5 oz) supplies 89calories, 24% of theDaily Valueofvitamin B6, and moderate amounts ofvitamin C,manganese,potassium, anddietary fiber, with no othermicronutrientsin significant content (table).
Although bananas are commonly thought to contain exceptional potassium content,their actual potassium content is not high per typical food serving, having only 12% of the Daily Value for potassium (table). The potassium-content ranking for bananas among fruits, vegetables, legumes, and many other foods is medium.
Bananas are a staplestarchfor many tropical populations. Depending upon cultivar and ripeness, the flesh can vary in taste from starchy to sweet, and texture from firm to mushy. Both the skin and inner part can be eaten raw or cooked. The primary component of the aroma of fresh bananas isisoamyl acetate(also known asbanana oil), which, along with several other compounds such asbutyl acetateandisobutyl acetate, is a significant contributor to banana flavor.
Plantains are eaten cooked, often as fritters.Pisang goreng, bananas fried with batter, is a popular street food in Southeast Asia.Bananas feature inPhilippine cuisine, with desserts likemaruyabanana fritters.Bananas can be made into fruit preserves.Banana chipsare a snack produced from sliced and fried bananas, such as inKerala.Dried bananas are ground to makebanana flour.In Africa,matokebananas are cooked in a sauce with meat and vegetables such as peanuts or beans to make the breakfast dishkatogo.In Western countries, bananas are used to make desserts such as banana bread.
Banana flowers (also called "banana hearts" or "banana blossoms") are used as avegetableinSouth AsianandSoutheast Asian cuisine. The flavor resembles that ofartichoke. As with artichokes, both the fleshy part of the bracts and the heart are edible.
Banana leaves are large, flexible, and waterproof. While generally too tough to actually be eaten, they are often used as ecologically friendly disposable food containers or as "plates" inSouth Asiaand severalSoutheast Asiancountries.InIndonesian cuisine, banana leaf is employed in cooking methods likepepesandbotok; banana leaf packages containing food ingredients and spices are cooked in steam or in boiled water, or are grilled on charcoal. Certain types of tamales are wrapped in banana leaves instead of corn husks.
When used so for steaming or grilling, the banana leaves protect the food ingredients from burning and add a subtle sweet flavor.InSouth India, it is customary to serve traditional food on a banana leaf.InTamil Nadu(India), dried banana leaves are used as to pack food and to make cups to hold liquid food items.
The tender core of the banana plant's trunk is also used inSouth AsianandSoutheast Asian cuisine.Examples include the Burmese dishmohinga, and theFilipinodishesinubaranandkadyos, manok, kag ubad.
Banana fiber harvested from the pseudostems and leaves has been used fortextilesin Asia since at least the 13th century. Both fruit-bearing and fibrous banana species have been used.In the Japanese systemKijōka-bashōfu, leaves and shoots are cut from the plant periodically to ensure softness. Harvested shoots are first boiled inlyeto prepare fibers foryarn-making. These banana shoots produce fibers of varying degrees of softness, yielding yarns and textiles with differing qualities for specific uses. For example, the outermost fibers of the shoots are the coarsest, and are suitable fortablecloths, while the softest innermost fibers are desirable forkimonoandkamishimo. This traditional Japanese cloth-making process requires many steps, all performed by hand.Banana papercan be made either from thebarkof the banana plant, mainly for artistic purposes, or from the fibers of the stem and non-usable fruits. The paper may be hand-made or industrially processed.
The large leaves of bananas are locally used asumbrellas.Banana peelmay have capability to extractheavy metalcontaminationfrom river water, similar to otherpurificationmaterials.Waste bananas can be used to feedlivestock.As with all living things, potassium-containing bananas emitradioactivityat low levels occurring naturally from thepotassium-40(K-40) isotope.Thebanana equivalent doseof radiation was developed in 1995 as a simple teaching-tool to educate the public about the natural, small amount of K-40 radiation occurring in everyone and in common foods.
Individuals with alatex allergymay experience a reaction to handling or eating bananas.
TheEdo periodpoetMatsuo Bashōis named after the Japanese word 芭蕉 (Bashō) for theJapanese banana. TheBashōplanted in his garden by a grateful student became a source of inspiration to his poetry, as well as a symbol of his life and home.
The song "Yes! We Have No Bananas" was written byFrank SilverandIrving Cohnand originally released in 1923; for many decades, it was the best-sellingsheet musicin history. Since then the song has been rerecorded several times and has been particularly popular during banana shortages.
A person slipping on abanana peelhas been a staple ofphysical comedyfor generations. An American comedy recording from 1910 features a popular character of the time, "Uncle Josh", claiming to describe his own such incident.
The banana's suggestively phallic shape has been exploited in artworks from Giorgio de Chirico's 1913 paintingThe Uncertainty of the Poetonwards. In 2019, an exhibition ofNatalia LL's video and set of photographs showing a woman "sucking on a banana" at theWarsaw National Museumwas taken down and the museum's director reprimanded.The cover artwork forthe 1967 debut albumofThe Velvet Undergroundfeatures a banana made byAndy Warhol. On the original vinyl LP version, the design allowed the listener to "peel" this banana to find a pink, peeled banana on the inside.In 1989, the feministGuerilla Girlsmade a screenprint with two bananas, intentionally reminiscent of Warhol's, arranged to form a "0" to answer the question in the artwork, "How many works by women artists were in the Andy Warhol and Tremaine auctions at Sotheby's?".
Italian artistMaurizio Cattelancreated a 2019 concept art piece titledComedianinvolving taping a banana to a wall using silverduct tape. The piece was exhibited briefly at the Art Basel in Miami before being removed from the exhibition and eaten without permission in another artistic stunt titledHungry Artistby New York artistDavid Datuna.
In India, bananas serve a prominent part in many festivals and occasions ofHindus. InSouth Indian weddings, particularlyTamil weddings, banana trees are tied in pairs to form anarchas a blessing to the couple for a long-lasting, useful life.
In Thailand, it is believed thata certain typeof banana plant may be inhabited by a spirit,Nang Tani, a type of ghost related to trees and similar plants that manifests itself as a young woman.People often tie a length of colored satin cloth around the pseudostem of the banana plants.
InMalay folklore, the ghost known asPontianakis associated with banana plants (pokok pisang), and its spirit is said to reside in them during the day.
In European, British, and Australian sport, throwing a banana at a member of an opposing team has long been used as a form ofracial abuse.The act, which was commonplace in England in the 1980s, is meant to taunt players ofBlack Africanancestry by equating them to apes or monkeys.