Banana
Bananas are tropical fruits belonging to the genus Musa, which encompasses over fifty species. The most common type for fresh consumption in Europe and the United States is the sweet banana, while starchier varieties known as plantains are prevalent worldwide and typically cooked before eating. Both the flesh and peel of bananas are edible. The cultivation of bananas has a long history, with evidence suggesting domestication occurred over 6,440 years ago in Papua New Guinea. Bananas are a crucial staple for many people in tropical regions, providing a significant source of calories and essential nutrients. They are non-seasonal, ripening consistently and available year-round, which contributes to their economic importance. However, the lack of genetic diversity among cultivated bananas makes them susceptible to diseases, such as Panama Disease. The Gros Michel banana, once a popular variety, faced near extinction due to this disease, leading to the rise of the Cavendish banana as the dominant type. Recent developments, including a new fungicide, aim to safeguard banana crops from ongoing threats.
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Banana
Bananas are members of the genus Musa, which includes more than fifty recognized species. The sweeter fruits, which are often consumed raw, are generally called bananas and are the most popular varieties eaten in Europe and the United States. The starchier fruits, which are the most popular varieties worldwide, are often cooked before consumption. These fruits are called plantains. Both the flesh and the peel of the fruits are edible.
When discussing bananas, the greatest distinction is between those that are domesticated (or cultivated) and wild species. Bananas with two sets of chromosomes are diploid, while those with three sets are triploid. Most food crop bananas are triploids. Triploid bananas are sterile, but seeds are not required to reproduce domesticated plants.
Overview
Wild bananas grow throughout Southeast Asia, which researchers believe is the origin of the plant. The wild fruits, which are usually not suitable for human consumption, are full of hard seeds and have very little flesh. The fruits are known as fingers. They grow in groups of up to twenty, called hands. Groups of hands form a bunch or banana stem.
At times these wild plants developed mutations, whose fruits had no seeds. Through cultivation of root offshoots (suckers), these seedless varieties were developed to become domesticated species. Humans removed the suckers and planted them to grow another banana plant that was genetically identical to the mother plant.
Cultivated bananas became an important staple food crop in tropical regions and remained so for thousands of years. Researchers found evidence of banana cultivation in the Kuk Swamp area of Papua New Guinea more than 6,440 years ago. This expertise in domesticating the wild fruit may have developed independent from similar agricultural practices in Asia.
During the nineteenth century, bananas became important cash and variety crops in the United States and Europe. They became vital to the economy. Bananas ripen at a reliable rate, turning from green to yellow in seven days, making the crop a supermarket staple. Other products from the plant, such as banana leaf fibers, were also exported.
The banana is a non-seasonal crop; therefore, the fruit is available all year long. People in Africa, Asia, Central and South America, and the Pacific Islands rely on bananas as a primary source of calories. The fruit is a good source of carbohydrates, ascorbic acid, B6, carotene, niacin, riboflavin, and thiamin, as well as potassium.
Most edible banana crops have been developed from two wild species, Musa acuminata and Musa balbisiana. Other banana subgroups include plantains and East African highland bananas. Unlike early practices of planting suckers, most modern plantations use tissue cultures to grow new plants. New mutations sometimes develop and may become new varieties of banana.
Because domesticated banana plants have little genetic diversity, they are in danger of becoming diseased. These diseases destroy the plant and spread easily throughout a banana plantation.
The most flavorful banana is the Gros Michel. It nearly became extinct through infection with Panama Disease, and has not been widely available since the 1960s. The Cavendish, a genetically distinct variety, was not affected by the disease and has become the new standard in much of the world. The susceptibility of bananas to disease has resulted in fewer varieties available to consumers, however, and growers are concerned about the potential for species loss. In October 2022, researchers announced that they had developed a fungicide that could halt the spread of Panama Disease and protect banana crops.
Bibliography
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Koeppel, Dan. Banana: The Fate of the Fruit That Changed the World. Hudson Street Press, 2008.
Mosbergen, Dominique. "Your Favorite Banana Is Facing Extinction as Deadly Fungus Spreads." HuffPost, 2 Dec. 2015, www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/bananas-extinction-cavendish-panama-disease‗us‗565eb2d3e4b08e945fed6712. Accessed 15 Nov. 2024.
Pillay, Michael, George Ude, and Chittaranjan Kole, editors. Genetics, Genomics and Breeding of Bananas. Science Publishers, 2012.
Vézina, Anne. "Domestication of the Banana." ProMusa, 2 Aug. 2020, www.promusa.org/Domestication+of+the+banana. Accessed 15 Nov. 2024.
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