Banana plants are most well known for the fruit they produce. It is one of the oldest cultivated plants. They are native to tropical South and Southeast Asia, and are likely to have been first domesticated in Papua New Guinea. Today, they are cultivated throughout the tropics. They are grown in at least 107 countries, primarily for their fruit, and to a lesser extent to make fiber, banana wine and as ornamental plants. Its fruits, rich in starch, grow in clusters hanging from the top of the plant. They come in a variety of sizes and colors when ripe, including yellow, purple, and red.
Fun Facts about Bananas:
- The banana plant is the largest herbaceous flowering plant. The plants are normally tall and fairly sturdy and are oftenmistaken for trees, They can grow up to 20 to 25 ft tall.
- Each stem can produce a single bunch of bananas. After fruiting, the stem dies, but offshoots may develop from the base of the plant.
- Banana leaves are spirally arranged and may grow up to 9 ft long and 2 wide. They are easily torn by the wind, resulting in the familiar frond look.
- The banana fruits develop from the banana heart, in a large hanging cluster, made up of tiers (called hands), with up to 20 fruit to a tier. The hanging cluster is known as a bunch, comprising 3–20 tiers, or commercially as a “banana stem”, and can weigh between 66–110 lbs.
- Bananas are naturally slightly radioactive, more so than most other fruits, because of their potassium content and the small amounts of the isotope potassium-40 found in naturally occurring potassium. Proponents of nuclear power sometimes refer to the banana equivalent dose of radiation to support their arguments.
- Export bananas are picked green, and ripen in special rooms upon arrival in the destination country. These rooms are air-tight and filled with ethylene gas to induce ripening. The vivid yellow color normally associated with supermarket bananas is in fact a side effect of the artificial ripening process. Flavor and texture are also affected by ripening temperature.
- Bananas and plantains produce fruit year-round, making them an extremely valuable food source
- India led the world in banana production, representing approximately 28% of the worldwide crop, mostly for domestic consumption
- Banana hearts are used as a vegetable in South Asian and Southeast Asian cuisine, either raw or steamed with dips or cooked in soups, curries and fried foods. The flavor resembles that of artichoke.
- Banana leaves are large, flexible, and waterproof. They are often used as ecologically friendly disposable food containers or as “plates” in South Asia and several Southeast Asian countries.
- Banana fiber is used in the production of banana paper.
- Banana peel may have capability to extract heavy metal contamination from river water, similar to other purification materials.