Bananas are amazing. They taste great on their own, in a dessert or even on toast. They’re teaching aids for a sex-ed class and make-believe handguns. There’s likely no human male on the planet who hasn’t pointed one at a fellow human and uttered the word “bang”. Bananas conveniently come in their own packaging and can be carried along with ease in a backpack, tote bag, or even pocket. Bananas aren’t perfect though. They do, for example, force other fruits to ripen prematurely12.

Most people open their banana the wrong way. Once upon a time it was said that even monkeys knew the right way of opening a banana, but this has been debunked3. Opening a banana is to not done by tearing the stem, but pinch at the bananus4 end and split from there. Speaking of the bananus, it is the most repulsive part of the banana. Eating it is something only a savage would do. Unfortunately this is not the only nasty thing about the banana. No, there’s also the vascular bundles5, or “strings” to the layman. While not as nasty, they do suck greatly and reduce the overall enjoyment of any banana.

Unfortunately the banana you know and love might not be around forever. In the west, only one type of banana is eaten: the Cavendish. It makes up over 40% of total world production67 and accounts for around 99% of banana exports to developed countries8. That banana is now in danger of extinction through disease. If you think there’s no way we’d lose it all to a single disease, know that it has happened before. The Cavendish only rose to dominance because its predecessor, the Gros Michel, was knocked out of the export trade by Panama disease9.

That history feeds a well-known myth: that banana candy is based on the taste of the Gros Michel. It’s a tempting story, especially since the candy tastes nothing like a real banana. It’s also very likely false. Artificial banana is just isoamyl acetate, a cheap simple ester that screams “banana!” on its own and was never tied to any particular banana10.

In closing, as in opening: bananas are amazing! I think I’ll have one now.

  1. Characterization of ethylene biosynthesis associated with ripening in banana fruit ↩︎

  2. Application of 1-MCP and propylene to identify ethylene-dependent ripening processes in mature banana fruit ↩︎

  3. Do monkeys peel bananas? Is there a monkey way to peel a banana? ↩︎

  4. Bananus ↩︎

  5. Effects of Morphological and Anatomical Characteristics of Banana Crown Vascular Bundles on Cutting Mechanical Properties Using Multiple Imaging Methods  ↩︎

  6. PLANET OF THE CAVENDISH - UNDERSTANDING THE DOMINATION ↩︎

  7. The World Banana Economy 1985-2002 ↩︎

  8. Cavendish banana ↩︎

  9. Panama disease ↩︎

  10. The secrets of fake flavours ↩︎