Eat bananas B A N A N A S is lyrics in a song sung by Gwen Stefani. Have you had your fill today of this fruit that is high in Potassium?
Bananas have been around for a very long time and differ from a “plantain”. Plantain’s are more starchy and less sweet, are eaten cooked rather than raw like a banana and the skin on a plantain is thicker and comes in a variety of colors such as green, black or yellow.
The old saying “money doesn’t grow on trees” also applies to bananas. Bananas don’t grow on trees either; they come from the largest herbaceous flowering plant. The banana plant grows all above ground from a structure usually called a corm. This plant grows very tall up to 25′ and has a very thick stalk that could be mistaken for a trunk. The new fake leaves or Pseudostem can grow to be 9′ long.
When the plant is mature, it stops producing new leaves and begins to form a flower spike or inflorescence. ‘A stem develops which grows up inside the Pseudostem, carrying the immature inflorescence until eventually it emerges at the top.’1 Each banana plant produces a single inflorescence that is also known as the banana heart. This plant stem or Pseudostem dies off and usually produces offshoots from the base so that the process of producing more bananas repeats itself.
The first time I saw a banana plant and had the opportunity to witness how they are grown was remarkable. Each banana is formed inside of the inflorescence that contains many bracts that sit in between rows of flowers. They develop and grow in the banana heart in the form of clusters, made up of several tiers. There can be up to 20 bananas per each tier and as many as 20 tiers per bunch.
For a banana plant to mature can take anywhere between 9-12 months. This all depends on the location of the plant, the sunlight and the warmth of the roots. The banana plant flowers after 12 months but in the tropics usually around 9 months due to the warm temperature and moisture in the air.
Here are some interesting and fun facts about bananas:
-110 nutrient-dense calories per serving (126 grams, or one medium-sized banana)
-A terrific, heart-healthy food when included in a diet low in saturated fat and cholesterol.
-Naturally fat-free, cholesterol-free and sodium-free
-A good source of potassium, dietary fiber, manganese and vitamins B6 & C
-Bananas are naturally radioactive. This comes from the fact that they contain relatively high amounts of potassium. Specifically, they contain Potassium-40, which is a radioactive isotope of potassium.
-Eating a banana can cheer you up! They are the only fruit to contain the amino acid tryptophan plus vitamin B6, which together helps the body, produce seratonin, the natural chemical which alleviates mental depression.
-Where did they come from? Edible bananas evolved from a plant in the Indo-Malaysian region. Most modern bananas are grown in tropical regions like South America, Central America and the Caribbean.
-Americans eat more bananas than apples and oranges combined. In fact, the average American eats 27 pounds of bananas every year.
-Add a one in one of your favorite smoothie recipes or create your favorite banana smoothie.
By M. Garrett
Leave a Reply