Banana

:For other meanings, see banana (disambiguation)

Properties

Bananas come in a variety of sizes and colours. The ripe fruit is easily peeled and eaten raw or cooked. Depending upon variety and ripeness, the flesh can be starchy to sweet, and firm to mushy. Unripe or 'green' plantains and bananas are used in cooking and are the staple starch of some tropical populations.

Related Topics:
Colour - Starch - Tropical

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While the original bananas contained rather large seeds, seedless and triploid varieties have been selected for human consumption. These are propagated asexually from offshoots of the plant. The plant is allowed to produce 2 shoots at a time - a larger one for fruiting immeditely and a smaller 'sucker' or 'follower' that will produce fruit in 6 - 8 months time. The life of a banana plantation is 25 years or longer, during which time the individual stools or planting sites may move slightly from their original positions as lateral rhizome formation dictates. Latin Americans sometimes comment that the plants are "walking" over time. A stem of bananas can weigh from 30-50 kg, and they are usually carried on the shoulder.

Related Topics:
Triploid - Asexually

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The commercial sweet varieties most commonly eaten in temperate countries (species Musa acuminata or the hybrid Musa x paradisiaca, a cultigen) are imported in large quantities from the tropics, where they are popular in part because they are available fresh year-round. In global commerce, by far the most important of these banana cultivars is 'Cavendish', which accounts for the vast bulk of bananas exported outside of the tropics.

Related Topics:
Temperate - Cultigen - Tropics - Cultivar

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Banana chips are a snack produced from bananas. Dried bananas have a dark brown colour and a typical intense banana taste. Bananas have also been used in the making of jam. However unlike other fruits, bananas have only recently been used to prepare juice and squashes. Despite an 85 % water content, it has historically been difficult to extract juice from the fruit because when compressed, a banana simply turns to pulp. In 2004, scientists at Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC), India, patented a technique for extracting juice by treating banana pulp in a reaction vessel for four to six hours http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/s1087416.htm.

Related Topics:
Banana chips - Jam - Juice - Squash - Bhabha Atomic Research Centre

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In addition to the fruits, the flower of the banana plant (also known as banana blossom or banana heart) is used in South-East Asian, Bengali and Kerala (India) cooking, either served raw with dips or cooked in soups and curries. The tender core of the banana plant's trunk is also used, notably in Burmese, Bengali and Kerala cooking.

Related Topics:
Flower - South-East Asia - Bengali - Kerala - Burmese

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Banana leaves, large, flexible, and waterproof, are used as umbrellas and to wrap food for cooking. Chinese zongzi and Central American tamales are sometimes steamed in banana leaves, and the Hawaiian imu is often lined with them. In South India, the leaves are used as a natural plate to serve food. Once eaten, the leaf is thrown away for cattle consumption thus being eco friendly. The practice has regained popularity due to the hygiene it offers and the fact that it saves on water and detergents that would normally have been used to clean a plate. Furthermore any hot food served in a tender banana leaf adds a distinct banana flavour that is also said to have nutritional benefits.

Related Topics:
Umbrella - Chinese - Zongzi - Central America - Tamale - Steamed - Hawaii - Imu - South India - Plate - Cattle

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