Did You Know…

The Banana

Horticulturists believe that the banana was Earth's first fruit. Banana plants have been cultivated since before recorded history. One of the first records dates back to Alexander the Great conquest of India, where he found the Banana in 327 BC.

Banana plants are the largest plants on earth with out a woody stem. They are actually a giant herb of the same family as lilies, orchids and palms.

They are a perennial crop that are grown and harvested year round. They do not grow from seeds but rather from rhizome or bulb. Each fleshy bulb will sprout new shoots year after year.

As they ripen the starch in the fruit turns to sugar, thus the riper the banana the sweeter.

A cluster of banana is called a hand and consists of 10 to 20 bananas that are known as fingers. In fact the banana is Arabic for finger.

The banana is one of the few fruits that ripen best off the plant. If left on the plant the fruit splits and has a cottony texture and flavor. Even in tropical growing areas, bananas for domestic consumption are cut green and stored in moist shady places to ripen slowly.

In 1516 Friar Tomas sails to the Caribbean from Europe bringing banana roots with him. He planted them in the rich fertile soil of the tropics. Beginning there future in the Americas. Banana were first introduced to the US public at the 1876 Philadelphia Centennial Exhibition are now the most widely eaten fruit in the country.

Bananas have no fat, cholesterol or sodium.

In east Africa a very popular use is in banana beer.

In Southeast Asia the Banana Leaf is used to wrap food, providing a unique flavor and aroma to rice and other foods.

India is the largest world producer of bananas, growing 16.5 million turns yearly, followed by Brazil at 6.5 million tons for the same period (2002).

To the Indians, the flower from the banana tree is sacred. During religious and wedding ceremonies the flowers are tied around the head in the belief they bring good luck.

For more on the Banana check out: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bananna