Nutritional Facts Bananas

Source: Nutrient data for this listing was provided by USDA SR-21. Each "~" indicates a missing or incomplete value. 

Percent Daily Values (%DV) are for adults or children aged 4 or older, and are based on a 2,000 calorie reference diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower based on your individual needs. 

Read More http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/fruits-and-fruit-juices/1846/2#ixzz3waYNwhWB

Soil Degradation Bananas

In addition to sustaining 95 percent of food production and storing carbon, soils host more than a quarter of the planet’s biodiversity and play a key role in developing important pharmaceuticals. 

 

"Bananas leave a heavy toll on soils because of the multiple agrochemicals that are required to produce commecrial exports, whilst pineapples are one of the worst crops for soil erosion, because of the large areas of exposed soils." 

Morphology of the Banana Plants

 

 

 

Root System

 

Plants have numerous (200–500) fibrous roots. This is consistant with Bananas being Monocots.In well drained, deep, and fertile soils, roots may extend 1.5 m (5 ft) deep and 4.9 m (16 ft) wide. the root system of the banana tree provides structure and the ability for absorption of water. The root system of banana plants begins as a single rhizome that puts out suckers, which form new plants to replace the dying main plant after it fruits.

 

Since the Cavendish Banana is of the seedless variety, it means that that the new banana trees are created using the rhizomes that develop into new banana trees.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Shoot System

 

The entire above-ground portion of the plant is not a true woody trunk, as in other trees, but a “false trunk” or “false stem” that consists of leaves and their fused petiole bases, referred to as a pseudostem. The pseudostem supports a canopy consisting of 6–20 (or more) leaves.

 

 

 

 

 

Fruit

The most iconic fruit of the banana tree is a yellow slighty curved banana. They are generally elongate-cylindrical, straight to strongly curved, 3–40 cm (1.2–16 in) long, and 2–8 cm (0.8–3 in) in diameter. The fruit apex is important in variety identification; it may be tapered, rounded, or blunt. The skin is thin and tender to thick and leathery, and silver, yellow, green, or red in color.

Inside the ripe fruit, the flesh ranges from starchy to sweet, and in color from white, cream, yellow, or yellow-orange to orange. Bananas also vary in peel thickness. Some varieties have a thin peel and are more susceptible to damage in transport, whereas others have a comparably thicker peel (Big Mike variety). Fruits of cultivated Musa species are typically sterile or have extremely low fertility. They produce fruit pulp without pollination and fruits lacking seed.

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 

Banana vs. Plantain

Banana and plantain are perennial crops that take the appearance of trees as they mature. 

There are two big distinctions that can be made in bananas, Plantains and Common Bananas. Plantains are starchy rather than sweet and are grown extensively as a staple food source in tropical regions.  Plantain varieties account for about 85 percent of all banana cultivation worldwide. Plantain varieties of bananas have to be cooked before they can be eaten.

Bananas on the other hand can be eaten raw once they are ripe. The most common kinds are Dwarf Cavendish, Valery, and Williams Hybrid bananas. Other types of bananas include Apple and a small red banana called the Red Jamaica. The Cavendish is the most common variety of bananas. The Cavendish is a shorter, stubbier plant than earlier varieties. It was developed to resist plant diseases, insects and wind storms better than its predecessors. The Cavendish fruit is of medium size, has a creamier, smooth texture, and a thinner peel than earlier varieties.
They have a sweet taste and the demand for them has increased over the years. Exports surpassed 17 million tonnes – 6.1% above the level in 2012 (FAO). This has mostly come from South American countries, as they are receiving multiple grants in areas such as banana growth.

The problem with the Cavendish banana is that it is derived from a mono culture. This means that if something goes wrong, the world's most popular banana could face extinction.

The Banana Plant - chemical

History of the Banana

History of the Banana
 

The Banana has been around for thousands of years, but exactly how many years? Archeologists have foudn evidence of banana domestication as early as around 8,000 BCE in the Kuk valley of New Guinea. From there the Banana travelled to the Phillipines and then was further distributed around the world.

The banana became important during the colonial era, where it was used as an intercropping crop. The banana plant, with its towering leaves, offered the perfect crop to shade the valuable commodities. it was also used as a food source for slaves that worked on the plantations. Bananas provided a non-labor intensive crop for plantation workers, the fruit’s easy digestibility and high energy content provided the perfect source of calories for the brutal manual labor of the cane fields in South America .  Ecuador, Costa Rica, the Philippine Islands, and Colombia account for two-thirds of the exported banana crops.  Of the bananas grown for export, almost all are desert bananas grown for markets in the United States and Europe, of which the “Cavendish” banana varietal is of supreme importance.

The banana’s development into a major worldwide trade commodity has its roots in the nineteenth century. It first started showing up in the european and north american markets, specifaclly new york in 1804, but it remained difficult to transport. In the 1820s and 1830s, British botanists in the United Kingdom’s overseas colonies became fascinated with the banana plant and fruit.   In 1829, Englishman Charles Telfair shipped a couple of banana plants to an acquaintance in England, where they eventually passed into the hands of the 7th Duke of Devonshire, William Cavendish,.  Cavendish was able to cultivate the plants, and the Cavendish banana was formally recognized as a cultivar in 1836. These Bananas where sent back to the developing world, and this is the most common cultivar of the bananas that are eaten in the 21st century.  In 1871, banana exports into the United States were valued at around $250,000.  By the first year of the twentieth century, the banana trade had exponentially ballooned to $6,400,000.  Ten years later, it had effectively doubled again.

Classification of Bananas

Dicots vs Monocots

Almost all flowering plants fall into two categories, monocots or dicots.  Bananas are large, perennial, monocotyledonous herbs which grow 2–9 m (6.6–30 ft) in height. They also fall under the classification of a C3 plant. Some key differences are listed in the comparison chart below.





fact: There are about 65,000 species of monocots. Some examples include grains, sugarcane, banana, palm, rice, corn and onions. There are about 250,000 species of dicots. Examples include daisies, mint, pea, and mango.


Species and family

Bananas and Plantains are two important members of the Musaceae family. According to encyclopedia Britannica, "the banana family of plants (order Zingiberales), consisting of 2 genera, Musa and Ensete, with about 50 species native to Africa, Asia, and Australia. The common banana (M. sapientum) is a subspecies of the plantain (M. paradisiaca). Both are important food plants". 

Genetics

Musa species are grouped according to “ploidy,” the numberof chromosome sets they contain, and the relative proportion of Musa acuminata (A) and Musa balbisiana (B) in their genome. Most familiar, seedless, cultivated varieties (cultivars) of banana are triploid hybrids (AAA, AAB, ABB). the AAA cultivar is the Cavendish banana as well as the Bike Mike banana. The Cavendish banana is the dwarf plant of the Big Mike plant that survived the strain of the Panama disease that wiped out the Big Mike banana variety.

Ideal Conditions for Growth - Soil

Ideal Conditions for Growth - Soil

Another important factor for Banana growth would be soil. Bananas Require very rich soil that drains well. This means that the soil that is ideal for banana growth would be  loamy, sandy soil -- not fine sand that clings together, but larger grains that drain easily. Poor drainage results in lower yield and quality of the bananas that are being produced because it results in soil that is water logged and does not allow plant roots to access oxygen which stunts or kills them.

Banana trees tend to prefer soils with higher acidity, such as a pH of 5.5 to 7. The acidity levels help the trees absorb potassium, which they pass on to their fruit. 

Fact: Bananas have around 422 milligrams, or 9 percent of the recommended dietary allowance (RDA)

When looking at the region South America, we can see that a lot of tropical forests exist there. This is an indication of rich fertile soils. In South America, there is a a trend of cutting down forests to build larger and larger plantations.

Ideal Conditions for Banana Growth - tempreture and Water

Ideal Conditions for Growth 

Like all plants, Bananas have certain conditions that they prefer to grow and to be able to produce

Bananas can handle extreme heat.  They can handle cool weather for a short while, but they don't like that either. Below 14°C  they just stop growing.

If the temperatures drop any lower the fruit suffers (the skin turns greyish) and the leaves can turn yellow. Frost kills the plant above ground, but the corm can survive and may re-shoot.

The ideal temperature range for banana growing is around 26-30°C.

Apart from temperature, Bananas need a moist climate to be able to thrive. They need an average rainfall between 78 and 98 inches, or to be irrigated with 20 - 50 mm of water each week. This combined with high temperatures found in tropical areas is what makes Latin America so attractive to Banana growers.

fact: the Banana is the most eaten fruit all over the world and comes in many different forms.

Regions to Grow Bananas

Banana Region

Bananas can be grown in regions with a tropical climate. In fact, almost all bananas are grown within 30 degrees either side of the equator.

The Equator runs through several countries: Ecuador, Colombia, Brazil, Sao Tome & Principe, Gabon, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda, Kenya, Somalia, Maldives, Indonesia and Kiribati. Banana production occurs in all 13 of these countries.the three biggest regions for banana production on a large scale are Latin America, West Africa and the Caribbean.

They are the fourth most important crop worldwide for developing countries, where they provide an important starch source, especially in Africa and Asia.  For instance, in Africa, as much as 400kg of plantain are consumed per year as a main source of calories.

The fruit is non-seasonal, and thus available year round, where it provides key foodstuffs between seasonal harvests of other staple crops.

This blog focuses on the Banana production in Latin America.

Bananas About Bananas in Latin America

Hello all,

This blog will be about the Banana industry in Latin America. It will explore different issues, from the plant anatomy of the banana plant to various issues including deforestation that surround the industry.