Where and how do bananas grow. In what countries do bananas grow, how do they reproduce and what is their life cycle in nature? When does the banana harvest start in Africa?

Banana ( Musa) is a perennial herbaceous plant that belongs to the flowering department, the monocotyledonous class, the ginger-colored order, the banana family, and the banana genus.

Origin of the word "banana"

There is no exact information about the origin of the Latin definition of Musa. Some researchers believe that the banana was named in memory of the court physician Antonio Musa, who was in the service of Octavian Augustus, the Roman emperor who ruled in the last decades BC. e and the first years of our era. According to another theory, it comes from the Arabic word "موز‎", which sounds like "muses" - the name of the edible fruit produced by this plant. The concept of "banana" passed into the Russian language as a free transliteration of the word "banana" from the dictionaries of almost all European languages. Apparently, this definition was borrowed by Spanish or Portuguese sailors at the end of the 16th and beginning of the 17th centuries from the vocabulary of the tribes living in West Africa.

Banana - description, structure, characteristics and photos

Despite the fact that in appearance a banana resembles a tree, in fact a banana is a grass, namely a herbaceous plant with powerful roots, a short stem that does not come to the surface, and 6-20 large leaves. After bamboo, banana is the tallest grass in the world. The banana fruit is a berry.

Trunk and roots

Numerous fibrous roots that form the root system can spread to the sides up to 5 meters and deepen in search of moisture up to 1.5 meters. The false trunk of a banana, reaching a height of 2 to 12 meters and having a diameter of up to 40 cm, has dense and long leaves that overlap each other.

banana leaves

Banana leaves are oblong or oval in shape, their length can exceed 3 meters, and their width can reach 1 meter. One large longitudinal vein clearly appears on their surface, from which many small perpendicular veins extend. The color of banana leaves is varied. Depending on the species or variety, it can be completely green, with maroon spots of various shapes, or two-tone - painted in crimson hues below and juicy green tones above. As the banana matures, the old leaves die off and fall to the ground, while the young ones develop inside the false trunk. The renewal rate of one banana leaf under favorable conditions occurs in 7 days.

How does a banana bloom?

Active growth of bananas lasts from 8 to 10 months, after which the flowering phase begins. At this time, a long peduncle sprouts up from the underground tuberous stem up through the entire trunk. Having made its way out, it forms a complex inflorescence, which in its shape resembles a kind of large bud, painted in purple or green shades. Banana flowers are arranged in tiers at its base. At the very top are large female flowers that form fruits, below are medium bisexual banana flowers, and even lower are small male flowers, which have the smallest sizes.

Regardless of the size, the banana flower consists of 3 tubular petals with 3 sepals. Most bananas have white petals, the outer surface of the leaves that cover them is purple, and the inner surface is dark red. Depending on the type or variety of banana, inflorescences are of two types: upright and drooping.

At night, pollination of female flowers occurs, and in the morning and afternoon by small mammals or birds. As the banana fruits develop, they become similar to a hand with many fingers growing on it.

At its core, the banana fruit is a berry. Its appearance depends on the species and cultivar. It can be oblong cylindrical or triangular in shape and have a length of 3 to 40 centimeters. Banana skin color can be green, yellow, red and with a silvery tint. As it ripens, the firm flesh becomes soft and juicy. About 300 fruits with a total weight of up to 70 kg can develop from one inflorescence. Banana flesh is creamy, white, orange, or yellow. Banana seeds can be found in wild fruits, and in cultivated species they are almost completely absent. After fruiting is completed, the false stem of the plant dies off, and a new one grows in its place.

Banana palm and banana tree. Do bananas grow on palm trees?

Sometimes a banana is called a banana palm, which is incorrect, since this plant does not belong to the palm family. Banana is a fairly tall plant, so it is not surprising that many people mistake it for a tree. The Greeks and Romans spoke of it as a "wonderful Indian fruit tree" - hence, by analogy with other fruit trees in this region, the expression "banana palm" spread.

The phrase "banana tree", which is sometimes called a banana, actually refers to plants from the genus pawpaw ( Asimina), of the Annon family and is associated with the similarity of the fruits of these trees with banana fruits.

Banana is not a fruit, not a tree, not a palm tree. In fact, a banana is a grass (herbaceous plant), and a banana fruit is a berry!

Where do bananas grow?

Bananas grow in countries of the tropical and subtropical zone: in South Asia, Latin America, Malaysia, northeast Australia, and also on some islands of Japan. On an industrial scale, the banana plant is grown in Bhutan and Pakistan, China and India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, the Maldives and Nepal, Thailand and Brazil. On the territory of Russia, bananas grow naturally near Sochi, however, due to the fact that winter temperatures often fall below zero degrees, the fruits do not ripen. Moreover, under prolonged adverse conditions, some plants may die.

Banana composition, vitamins and minerals. What are the benefits of bananas?

Bananas are classified as low-fat, but quite nutritious and energy-rich foods. The pulp of its raw fruits is a quarter composed of carbohydrates and sugars, a third of solids. It contains starch, fiber, pectins, proteins and various essential oils, which give the fruits their characteristic aroma. The composition of banana pulp includes minerals and vitamins that are useful and necessary for the human body: potassium, magnesium, phosphorus, calcium, iron, sodium, copper, zinc, as well as vitamins B, E, C and PP. Due to the unique chemical composition, the plant has found application in medicine.

How many calories are in a banana?

Data per 100 grams of product:

calorie green banana - 89 kcal;
calorie content of a ripe banana - 110-120 kcal;
calorie content of an overripe banana - 170-180 kcal;
calorie content of dried banana - 320 kcal.

Since bananas are different in size, the calorie content of 1 banana varies between 70-135 kilocalories:

1 small banana weighing up to 80 g and up to 15 cm long contains approximately 72 kcal;
1 medium banana weighing up to 117 g and more than 18 cm long contains approximately 105 kcal;
1 large banana weighing more than 150 g and more than 22 cm long contains about 135 kcal.

Energy value of a ripe banana (ratio of proteins, fats, carbohydrates) (data per 100 g):

proteins in a banana - 1.5 g (~ 6 kcal);
fats in a banana - 0.5 g (~ 5 kcal);
carbohydrates in a banana - 21 g (~ 84 kcal).

It's important to note that bananas don't do a very good job of curbing hunger, making it worse after a brief satiety. The reason lies in the significant content of sugar, which rises in the blood and after a while increases appetite.

Useful properties of banana. The use of bananas

So what are bananas good for?

Banana pulp is used to relieve inflammatory processes occurring in the oral cavity, as well as a dietary product in the treatment of stomach and duodenal ulcers. In addition, the banana is laxative and is therefore used as a mild laxative. Due to the presence of tryptophan, an amino acid that prevents cell aging and has a beneficial effect on brain function, bananas are recommended to be eaten by the elderly. The presence of potassium and magnesium allows them to be used as a means of preventing high blood pressure and stroke.
Infusion of banana flowers helps in the treatment of diabetes and bronchitis. The juice obtained from banana stems is a good anticonvulsant and sedative.
The invaluable benefits of bananas are concentrated in the peel. Banana skins are used for medicinal purposes. Compresses from young leaves or banana peel contribute to the rapid healing of burns and abscesses on the skin.
Banana peel is used as a fertilizer for both indoor and outdoor flowers. The fact is that it contains a large amount of phosphorus and potassium. With the help of a banana peel, you can also fight with, which does not tolerate excess potassium. To do this, you just need to make a tincture on banana skins and water the plants with it. The easiest way to use banana skins to fertilize flowers is to simply bury them in the ground. To do this, it is enough to cut the peel into small pieces. After this procedure, even the most tired plants begin to leaf out and bloom. Banana peel decomposes in the ground for 10 days, after which bacteria eat it.
The benefits of bananas are invaluable: even overripe bananas produce a very powerful antioxidant that prevents cancer.

Residents of countries located in temperate latitudes are happy to eat raw peeled bananas as a dessert, add them to ice cream and confectionery. Some peoples prefer dried and canned bananas. Also, this berry is fried and boiled with or without the skin, adding salt, hot spices, olive oil, onion or garlic. Bananas can be used to make flour, chips, syrup, marmalade, honey and wine. In addition to fruits, the banana inflorescence is also eaten: raw inflorescences are dipped in sauce, and boiled ones are added to gravies or soups. Starch is prepared from unripe banana fruits. Boiled banana waste of vegetable and dessert varieties is used as feed for large and small livestock.

The fruits and other parts of the banana are used:

in the leather industry as a black dye;
in the textile industry for the production of fabrics;
for the manufacture of extra strong marine ropes and ropes;
in the construction of rafts and the manufacture of seat cushions;
as plates and trays for serving traditional South Asian dishes in India and Sri Lanka.

Bananas: contraindications and harm

It is undesirable to eat bananas before bedtime, and also to combine with milk, so as not to provoke fermentation in the stomach and not cause intestinal failure.
People with diabetes should not eat bananas because they contain little glucose and fructose, but a lot of sugar.
Bananas can harm people who suffer from thrombophlebitis, as these berries contribute to blood clotting.

Types and varieties of bananas, names and photos

The genus includes about 70 species of bananas, which, depending on the application, are divided into 3 varieties:

Decorative bananas (inedible);
Plantains (sycamore);
Dessert bananas.

decorative bananas

This group includes plants with very beautiful flowers and mostly inedible fruits. They can be wild or grown for beauty. Inedible bananas are also used to make various textile products, car seat cushions and fishing nets. The most famous types of ornamental bananas are:

Banana pointed (Musa acuminata)

grown because of the beautiful leaves up to one meter long with a large central vein and many small ones, along which the leaf blade divides over time, acquiring resemblance to a bird feather. The leaves of the decorative banana are dark green, often there are specimens with a reddish tint. In greenhouse conditions, the height of a pointed banana plant can reach 3.5 meters, although in room conditions it grows no more than 2 meters. The size of the fruits of this type of banana ranges from 5 to 30 centimeters, and their color can be green, yellow and even red. The pointed banana is edible and grows in the countries of southeast Asia, in southern China, India and Australia. In countries with colder climates, this type of banana is grown as an ornamental plant.

Blue Burmese Banana (Musa itinerans)

grows in height from 2.5 to 4 meters. The trunk of a banana is painted in an unusual purple-green color with a silvery-white coating. The color of the leaf plates is bright green, and their length reaches an average of 0.7 meters. The dense peel of the banana fruit has a blue or purple color. The fruits of this banana are unsuitable for food. In addition to its decorative value, the blue banana is used as one of the components of the Asian diet. Banana grows in the following countries: China, India, Vietnam, Thailand, Laos. This plant can also be grown in a pot.

Musa Velutina)

has a false trunk height of not more than 1.5 meters with a diameter of about 7 centimeters. Banana leaves, painted in light green, grow up to 1 meter in length and 30 centimeters in width. Many specimens have a red edging along the edge of the leaf plate. The petals of inflorescences, pleasing with their appearance up to six months, are painted purple-pink. The pink peel of a banana is quite thick, and their number in a bunch does not exceed 9 pieces. The length of the fruit is 8 cm. When ripe, the skin of the fruit opens, revealing light flesh with seeds inside.

This variety of banana is used for decorative purposes. It can survive not very cold winter. This banana is also unique in that it will freely bloom and bear fruit almost all year round at home.

Musa coccinea)

is a representative of low-growing plants. Its height rarely exceeds one meter. The shiny surface of narrow bright green banana leaves emphasizes the beauty of inflorescences of juicy scarlet or red color. The flowering period of a banana lasts about 2 months. Grown as an ornamental plant for beautiful orange-red flowers. The homeland of the Indochinese banana is Southeast Asia.

Banana Darjeeling (Musa sikkimensis)

grows up to 5.5 meters in height with a false trunk diameter at the base of about 45 cm. The color of this ornamental banana may have a red tint. The length of gray-green leaves with purple veins often exceeds 1.5-2 meters. Some varieties of the Darjeeling banana have red-tinted leaf plates. Banana fruits are medium-sized, up to 13 cm in length, with a slightly sweet taste. This species is quite frost-resistant and can withstand frosts down to -20 degrees. Banana is grown in many European countries.

Japanese banana, Basho banana or Japanese textile banana ( Musa basjoo)

cold-resistant species, reaching a height of 2.5 meters. The surface of the false trunk of a banana is colored greenish or yellowish and covered with a thin waxy layer on which black spots are visible. The length of leaf blades does not exceed 1.5 meters in length and 60 centimeters in width. The color of banana leaves varies from deep dark green at the base of the leaf to pale green at the top. The Japanese banana grows in Japan, as well as in Russia on the Black Sea coast. It is inedible and is grown mainly for fiber, which is used to make clothing, screens, and book bindings.

Banana textile, abaca (Musa textilis)

grown to make strong fibers from the leaf sheaths. The height of the false trunk does not exceed 3.5 meters, and the diameter is 20 cm. Narrow green leaves rarely reach a length of more than one meter. The fruits that develop on a drooping brush have a trihedral appearance and sizes up to 8 centimeters. Inside the pulp is a large number of small seeds. The color changes from green to straw yellow as it matures. The textile banana is grown in the Philippines, Indonesia, and also the countries of Central America in order to obtain a durable fiber from which weave baskets, furniture and other utensils.

Banana Balbisa (fruity) ( Musa balbisiana)

This is a large plant with a false stem height of up to 8 meters and a diameter at the base of more than 30 centimeters. Its color changes from green to yellow-green. The length of banana leaves can exceed 3 meters with a width of about 50-60 centimeters. Leaf sheaths are bluish in color and often covered with fine hairs. Fruit sizes reach 10 centimeters in length and 4 cm in width. Banana skin color changes with age from light yellow to dark brown or black. Banana fruits are used as food for. Unripe fruits are preserved. The male flower buds are eaten as a vegetable. Balbis banana grows in India, Sri Lanka and the Malay Archipelago.

Sycamore (plantains)

Plantain (from French plantain) or plane tree (from Spanish plátano) are rather large bananas, which are mainly (90%) eaten after heat treatment: they are fried in oil, boiled, baked in batter, steamed or made of which are chips. The peel of the plane tree is also used as food. Although there are types of plane trees that, when fully ripe, become softer, sweeter and edible even without prior heat treatment. The color of the skin of the plane tree can be green or yellow (although they are usually sold greenish), ripe plane trees have a black skin.

Plantains differ from dessert bananas in their thicker skin, as well as tougher and almost unsweetened pulp with a high starch content. Sycamore varieties have found use both in the human menu and in agriculture, where they are used as livestock feed. In many countries of the Caribbean, Africa, India and South America, dishes made from plane trees are served as side dishes for meat and fish, or as a completely independent dish. Usually they are generously flavored with salt, herbs and hot chili peppers.

Types of plane trees intended for heat treatment are divided into 4 groups, in each of which different varieties are distinguished:

French plane trees: varieties ‘Obino l’Ewai’ (Nigeria), ‘Nendran’ (India), ‘Dominico’ (Colombia).
French horn-shaped plane trees: varieties ‘Batard’ (Cameroon), ‘Mbang Okon’ (Nigeria).
False horn-shaped sycamores: varieties ‘Agbagda’ and ‘Orishele’ (Nigeria), ‘Dominico-Harton’ (Colombia).
Horn-shaped plane trees: varieties ‘Ishitim’ (Nigeria), ‘Pisang Tandok’ (Malaysia).

Below is a description of several varieties of platano:

Ground banana (banana da terra)

grows mainly in Brazil. The length of the fruit often reaches 25-27 cm, and the weight is 400-500 grams. The peel is ribbed, thick, and the flesh has an orange tint. Raw, platano is slightly astringent in taste, but after cooking, it acquires excellent taste characteristics. The leader among plane trees in terms of the content of vitamins of groups A and C.

Plantain Burro (Burro, Orinoco, Horse, Hog)

herbaceous plant of medium height, resistant to cold. Sycamore fruits 13-15 cm long, enclosed in a trihedral peel. The pulp is dense, with a lemon flavor, raw edible only when overripe, so the variety is usually fried or baked.

plant with large fruits up to 20 cm in length. The peel is greenish, slightly rough to the touch, thick. In its raw form, it is inedible due to its strongly astringent taste, but it is perfect for preparing all kinds of dishes: chips, vegetable stews, mashed potatoes. This type of plane tree grows in India, where it is in unprecedented demand among buyers in ordinary fruit shops.

dessert bananas

Dessert varieties of bananas are eaten without heat treatment. In addition, they can be harvested for future use, withering or drying. The best known species of this group is banana paradise ( Musa paradisiaca) . It grows up to 7-9 meters in height. The thick, fleshy banana leaves are up to 2 meters long and are colored green with brown spots. The ripened fruit reaches up to 20 cm in size with a diameter of about 4-5 cm. Up to 300 banana berries can ripen on one plant, the pulp of which practically does not contain seeds.

Almost all species are artificially cultivated. Among them, the following dessert varieties of bananas are widely used:

Banana variety Lady's finger or Lady Finger (Lady Finger)

with a rather thin false trunk, reaching a height of 7-7.5 m. These are small bananas, the length of which does not exceed 12 cm. The banana skin of this variety is colored light yellow with thin red-brown strokes. In one bunch of bananas there are usually up to 20 fruits with creamy pulp. It is widely cultivated in Australia and also distributed in Latin America.

up to 8-9 meters high and large fruits that have a thick yellow peel. The size of a banana fruit can reach 27 cm and weigh more than 200 grams. Banana pulp is creamy in texture. The Gros Michel banana variety tolerates transportation well. Grows in Central America and Central Africa.

Banana variety Dwarf Cavendish(Dwarf Cavendish)

low (1.8-2.4 m) plant with wide leaves. The size of banana fruits varies from 15 to 25 cm. Their ripening is signaled by a bright yellow color of the peel with a small number of small brown spots. It grows in West and South Africa, as well as in the Canary Islands.

Banana variety Ice-cream(IceCream, Cenizo, Krie)

a fairly tall plant with a false trunk height of up to 4.5 meters and elongated four- or five-sided fruits up to 23 cm in size. The color of the unripe banana peel has a bluish-silver tint. As they mature, the color of the skin becomes pale yellow. Grown in the Hawaiian Islands, the Philippines and Central America.

Banana variety Red Spanish (Red Spanish)

characterized by an unusual purple-red color not only of the false stem, leaf veins, but also of the peel of an unripe banana. As it matures, the skin takes on an orange-yellow hue. The height of the plant can reach 8.5 meters with a trunk diameter at the base of about 45 cm. Fruit sizes are 12-17 cm. These red bananas grow in Spain.

Growing bananas. How do bananas grow?

The most comfortable conditions for growing bananas are daytime temperatures, which are in the range of 26-35 ° C and night temperatures, ranging from 22 to 28 ° C. When the ambient temperature drops to 10 ° C, growth stops completely. A strictly defined humidity has no less influence during the entire life cycle of a plant. Long dry periods can lead to the death of the plant. The best places to organize a banana plantation are fertile acidic soils rich in micro and macro elements.

To combat weeds that interfere with the normal growth of cultivated plants, not only herbicides are used, but also mulching of the root zone with finely chopped fallen leaves. A good result is the use of geese, which willingly eat juicy green weeds, but are absolutely indifferent to bananas. To restore soil fertility, bananas are fertilized with mineral additives. Depending on the condition of the soil, nitrogen, phosphorus or potash fertilizers are used.

From the moment a banana is planted to the end of fruiting, it usually takes from 10 to 19 months. So that the plant does not break from the weight of the ripening fruits, during the ripening of the banana, supports are installed under the brushes. Bananas are harvested when the crop is no more than 75% ripe. In this state, it is cooled and transported to the consumer. Ripe bananas, stored in a special gas-air mixture at a temperature of not more than 14 ° C, retain their presentation and taste for 50 days.

Growing bananas at home

Many types of bananas can be cultivated in a greenhouse or even an apartment. For home cultivation, low-growing banana varieties with variegated decorative leaves and beautiful flowers are best suited. In order for the plant to feel comfortable, it needs a special substrate, consisting of a mixture of universal soil, perlite and finely chopped bark, fir or.

Watering a banana

A homemade banana is very demanding on moisture, but you should not overmoisten the plant. It is not recommended to place a room banana near central heating radiators or heaters. To create the necessary moisture, the leaves and the false trunk of a banana are sprayed with a spray bottle. For irrigation, settled water with a temperature of 25 ° C is used. Watering should be carried out without allowing the substrate to dry out by more than 3 centimeters. In the winter months, banana watering is limited.

indoor banana fertilizer

To provide a homemade banana with microelements, it is carried out by root and leaf feeding. It is advisable to alternate the use of mineral and organic fertilizers. In any case, you should not feed the plant more than once every 2 weeks. Root loosening of the soil has a good effect on the growth of bananas, providing free access of oxygen to the roots of the plant.

Propagation of bananas (vegetative and seeds)

Bananas breed:

seeds;
vegetative method.

It is worth noting that the same plant grown by different methods will have different characteristics.

Growing a homemade banana is quite easy. A banana grown from seeds is more viable, but the plant will take a long time to develop and produce inedible fruits. First, banana seeds must be germinated. To do this, their surface is carefully treated with sandpaper or a nail file (a couple of scratches will be enough) so that the sprout can break through the hard shell. Be careful - you do not need to pierce the seed. Then the seeds are soaked in boiled water for several days until sprouts appear. Every 6 hours the water must be changed.

The best container for planting bananas is a shallow pot with a diameter of about 10 centimeters. It is filled with drainage (a layer of expanded clay) 2 cm high and a sand-peat mixture 1: 4 4 cm high. To plant banana seeds, they need to be slightly pressed into the surface of moistened soil without falling asleep with earth. After that, cover the container with a transparent film or glass and put it in a well-lit place, excluding direct sunlight. The temperature in the container should be between 27-30 degrees during the day and 25-27 degrees at night. As the substrate dries, it is moistened with a spray bottle. Some gardeners prefer not to remove the film from the container and moisten the substrate through the bottom of the container. If mold appears on the soil, it is necessary to remove it and pour the substrate with a solution of potassium permanganate.

The first banana shoots appear after 2-3 months. From this moment, the active growth of the plant begins, and after 10 days it can be transplanted into a larger pot. As the banana grows, it needs to be transplanted into a larger pot.

Vegetative propagation of bananas

A faster and more reliable way to get a plant with edible fruits is vegetative propagation. After the end of fruiting, the false banana stem dies off, and new buds begin to develop from the underground stem to replace it. From one grows a new "trunk". At this time, you can pull the rhizome out of the container and carefully separate a piece with an awakened kidney from it. This banana sprout needs to be transplanted into a prepared pot. As the plant grows, it needs to be transplanted into a larger container. It is established that by the time of fruiting, the volume of the pot should be at least 50 liters.

Among the world's crops, the banana berry is the fourth most popular after rice and. The total number of banana fruits eaten per year by the world's population exceeds 100 billion pieces.
The islands of the Malay Archipelago are the birthplace of the banana. Since ancient times, the inhabitants of the archipelago have been growing this berry and eating it together with fish.
The first mention of the plant as an edible fruit appeared between the 17th and 11th centuries BC. e. in the Indian written source Rig Veda.
In the Ramayana collection (an Indian epic of the 14th century BC), one of the books describes the clothes of the royal family, which were woven from threads obtained from banana leaves.
The Goldfinger banana variety, grown in Australia, has fruits that resemble in structure and taste.
If you compare a banana and a potato, it turns out that the calorie content is one and a half times lower than that of a banana. And raw bananas are almost 5 times less caloric than dried ones. Among the products prepared from this fruit, banana juice is the lowest calorie.

33 chose

This is exactly the question that came to me from one of our readers. True, she asked not to be named, because this question seems to her "too childish." I think this is a very interesting question!

First, I remind you: bananas do not grow on palm trees. Bananas - it's grass. One of the highest in the world, by the way. Secondly, there are about 500 varieties!

So bananas are very, very different. And in size, and in color, and, of course, in taste. There are, by the way, generally inedible bananas. For example, banana japanese and banana textile. Yes, bananas are also used to make clothes!

But those bananas that you and I eat (and almost all varieties!) - this is generally a fiction. They do not exist in nature. These are different varieties of sterile artificially bred banana paradise which does not occur in the wild. It is precisely because this banana is sterile that many people think that the banana reproduces vegetatively: "either by shoots, or somehow else." So my friends were very surprised and did not believe me when I told them about bananas with pits.

I reveal a secret (although what a secret it is, any botanist knows about it): wild bananas have pits! And there are so many of them that there can be practically no pulp in the banana fruit.

Look, it's a fruit wild banana in section:

But bananas have been cultivated for so long (the first mention of them is to the 5th-6th centuries BC. e., and the islands of the Malay Archipelago are considered their homeland), that cunning mankind has learned to grow seedless bananas.

By the way, as a food crop, a banana occupies fourth place in the world by popularity. Only rice, wheat and corn are grown in larger quantities. And in what kind of species do not eat bananas! They are eaten raw, boiled, fried, desserts and pastries, soups and main courses are prepared from them ... There is only one thing: those bananas that can be found on the shelves of European stores cannot be fried or boiled. So, of course, you can try. Some desserts with fried bananas will even work, but this has nothing to do with the variant of fried bananas of the peoples of Africa and Asia. Because special varieties are fried here, they are green, tough and, when raw, are more like potatoes with a slight sweetish aftertaste.

However, bananas are not only used for food. Dyes are made from bananas (black, from a banana peel), leaves are also used to prepare a variety of foods (similar to foil or baking paper), leaves are often used to make packaging, rafts and light buildings are made from stems. Bananas have also found their place in medicine: the fruits help fight anemia, high blood pressure, depression, heartburn and PMS, flowers are used in the treatment of dysentery, stomach ulcers, bronchitis and are brewed for diabetes ... The rest of the plant is also used for medical purposes. For example, young banana leaves are great for healing burns.

I hope I was able to answer the question in some detail, and now some more photos answering the question "how bananas grow." Especially for you, I took these photos in Cambodia and Singapore Botanical Garden.

So bananas grow like this...

Bananas and tangerines, which we see on Russian shelves, have come a long way. The first crossed the ocean, escaping from the hot embrace of the plantations of Ecuador, the second arrived in our country from Morocco or Spain. Coconuts are exported to Europe from Asian countries, cane sugar - from the Caribbean. We talk about places worth visiting with a camera and ... a bulky bag.

Madagascar: the main supplier of vanilla in the world

Huge vanilla plantations, which employ thousands of women and children, stretch in the northeast of the country - in the area of the towns of Antalaha, Andapa and Sambava. Hence the unspoken name of this part of the island - the Vanilla Coast. Fragrant spice in the middle of the XVIII century was brought to Madagascar from Mexico. Vanilla took root quickly, but to this day it gives planters a lot of trouble. A capricious plant requires artificial pollination and very careful drying. Hence the price - vanilla remains one of the most expensive spices in the world. Sometimes it is jokingly compared to diamonds.

The best place to start exploring vanilla plantations is Antalaha, which was one of the most prosperous places in the country 100 years ago. Workers with bales scurry along the streets of the port town, trading shops are littered with pods and packs of snow-white vanilla powder. Impressive views can be caught on the way to Cap-Est, the easternmost point of the island, where kilometers of plantations will give way to panoramas of the ocean coast.

Ecuador: banana empire

The Latin American country has been holding the title of banana supplier No. 1 for many years. Every third of the bananas harvested on Ecuadorian plantations is sent to Russian counters. The rest go to the USA and EU countries. The main condition for growing bananas is the humid tropics. Ecuador has no problems with this: the country is located on the equator, and therefore the humidity and temperature in some areas are kept at the same mark almost all year round.

You don't have to travel far to find plantations. Banana possessions with green blankets cover the entire space in the vicinity of Guayaquil. A continuous landscape of dense banana forest can be observed on the stretch of road between the towns of Machala and Puerto Inca. Not far from the latter is one of the largest plantations called Los Alamos, where everyone comes to stare at the process of cutting and packing fruits, and at the same time listen to a lecture on why banana palms are grass, not trees.

Air cargo transportation has long been established between Russia and the countries of South America, and two years ago the sea route was solemnly opened. Ships with huge refrigerators on board (they store fruit) follow the route Guayaquil - Balboa - Rotterdam - St. Petersburg.

Greece: home of olives

If you have been to Greece, you have definitely seen the olive groves that cover a good part of the territory of this country. But it's one thing to see, and another to taste the ripening fruits right from the branch. To do this, you need to purposefully go to one of the plantations and find out how the “gold” olives (they are giant, and they are grown in the vicinity of Sparta) differ from the “Chalkidiki” variety (green and oblong, “live” on the peninsula of the same name). The main pride of the Greeks are olives from the city of Kalamata - eggplant color, with spicy pulp, the very ones that are sold in a wine vinegar marinade.

The road to Kalamata winds its way through hills overgrown with olive trees. From May to July olives bloom, from July to September they bear fruit. The crop is usually harvested in late autumn (at this time olive festivals are held in many Mediterranean countries), but you can enter the town at any time of the year. Firstly, it is located very close to Athens, and secondly, it is one of the most ancient and delicious (what are the buns with olive oil and oregano) places in Greece.

Historians are still arguing about which mainland is the birthplace of the olive tree. Ancient Arabic parchments mention forests of olives that grew along the coast of North Africa. But the Greeks pull the garment over themselves, recalling that Odysseus gouged out the eye of the Cyclops with an olive stake, and the club of Hercules was hewn from the wood of olives.

Caribbean: sugarcane and rum

For almost three decades, Soviet-Cuban relations were literally sugar. The USSR generously supplied Fidel Castro with oil, and in return he showered distant friends with cane sugar and other Caribbean gifts. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the capacity of Cuba's sugar factories has noticeably decreased, but the export of sugar is still one of the main sources of income for this country. For example, a factory called Central Azucarero operates near the resort of Varadero.

You can ride through the plantations on a battered steam locomotive, and then watch how the cane is harvested and squeezed out, getting sugar-rich juice. At the end of the tour - splashed into a glass of Cuban rum. If you want to see the former estates of the planters (destroyed during the wars of liberation), head for the picturesque Los Ingenios Valley, which is 12 kilometers from Trinidad. Once in Barbados, visit the Mount Gay Rum Factory to learn how sugar cane turns into molasses and then suddenly into alcohol during a tasting. In the Dominican Republic, don't miss the largest sugar cane refinery (near Puerto Plata) and, trying in vain to remember the steps of distillation, just buy a good three-year-old rum.

Cuba: rum cane

The famous Bacardi company, which owns more than a hundred brands, was founded on Liberty Island, or rather in the town of Santiago de Cuba, where the Bacardi brothers bought a distillery. After the Cuban Revolution, businessmen emigrated to the States. Today the company's headquarters is based in Bermuda.

Indonesia and the Philippines: Coconut Archipelagos

It is difficult to determine where coconut plantations begin and end in the Philippines. It seems that slender palm trees grow everywhere you look. Together with Indonesia, this country shares the first place in the ranking of producers of hairy nuts. Trees do not require special care, they regularly bear fruit for fifty years. But collecting coconuts every time turns into an extreme adventure.

First, mature nuts regularly fall directly on the workers' heads. Secondly, climbing a palm tree without falling down and breaking your neck is really difficult. Therefore, in Sumatra, tame monkeys are used as pickers, who “gnaw” the fruits on top of palm trees right into baskets standing on the ground. If there are no monkeys on the farm, the workers climb the trees, cutting the trunks from different sides with a knife and making something like steps.

One of the main places in the Philippines where coconuts are grown on an industrial scale is the city of _Davao_ on the island of Mindanao (there are also pineapple and banana plantations). Coconut farm "for tourists" can be found near Manila. It is called Villa Escudero and has a museum, a restaurant and a nice hotel.

Banana is the most popular product consumed almost daily. Many people believe that fruits grow on palm trees. This statement is not true. The banana plant is neither a tree nor a bush. Then the question arises: “How do bananas grow?”

How and where do bananas grow in nature?

Bananas are a perennial herb that has thick-skinned berries with lots of seeds. The height of this plant reaches 8 m, and the diameter of the stem is about 0.4 m. Banana leaves grow from the stem, their length can reach 3 m, and their width is 0.5 m. The root system goes down 1.5 m, and to the sides at 4-5 m.

Science knows 40 species and 500 varieties of bananas.

Food varieties are divided into 2 groups: Fruits that have a sweet taste are consumed raw. Plantains, in their composition contain a large amount of starch, are used after cooking. The first mention of bananas, scientists find in the ancient manuscripts of India and China. It is there that the berry is considered a sacred fruit that can nourish the mind and body. Also, some ancient buildings in India that have survived to this day have roofs in the shape of a banana brush. Then the culture spread to Asia Minor and Africa.

Do bananas grow on a tree or on a bush?

If a person is still wondering: "Which tree do bananas grow on?". That answer will upset him. The banana does not grow on a tree or on a bush. And the usual childhood belief that it grows on palm trees is not scientifically confirmed. The banana plant is primarily a herb. The erroneous statement about banana palms appeared in the era of conquests and discoveries of new lands. When Europeans visited the distant countries of Asia and Latin America, the giant banana "trees" they saw there did not fit into the usual idea of the appearance of grass.

In what countries do they grow?

The banana is one of the oldest cultivated plants. Russian scientist N. Vavilov, after many years of research, determined where bananas grow. The homeland of the fruit is the southeastern part of Asia and the Malay Archipelago. So, in which countries is it grown the most?

Currently banana is grown in 107 countries: Latin America, Asia and Africa. It is used as: food (fresh and dried); the main component for making banana wine and beer; substances for the production of fibers; plants for landscape design.

The main use of the banana is to consume it as a food item. So the leaders in consumption are African countries: Burundi, Samoa, Comoros, Ecuador. For these countries, fruit is the staple food.

In the list of cultivated crops, the banana occupies the 4th place, after wheat, rice and corn. One of the reasons for so much attention to the fruit is its calorie content. 100 g of the product contains 91 kcal, which is more than potatoes (100 g - 83 kcal). The leaders in the production of bananas include: India, China, the Philippines, Brazil, Ecuador. The main importers of banana products are the USA, Canada and Europe.

How long does it take for fruits to grow and ripen?

Bananas feel comfortable and develop at daytime temperatures of 26-36 degrees, and at night - 22-28 degrees. If the air temperature drops to 16 degrees, then the plant begins to slow down its growth. And at 10 degrees completely stops its development. The plant can withstand a three-month dry season. However, the norm for it is about 100 mm of precipitation every month. If a cold snap does occur, then I start heating banana plantations. To warm them, they are fumigated with smoke or flooded with water.

Flowering begins 8-10 months after planting. The inflorescence has an elongated shape of a rounded bud of purple or green color. In the center are large females, males grow on the edge, and between them are barren flowers. Having opened, male flowers immediately fall off, exposing the upper part of the inflorescence. Flowers are collected in brushes of 12-20 pieces. And they are arranged in tiers under each other, forming a bunch. Uncultivated bananas are pollinated by bats (if blooming at night) or small animals and birds (if in the morning). Cultivated varieties reproduce vegetatively.

So how long does it take for a banana to grow?

Some varieties are able to produce ripe fruits in 10-12 months after planting, while others will need 17-18 months. The fruits develop in tiers and form the so-called hand. In the process of ripening, the fruit changes color from green to yellow (or red, depending on the variety). The flesh is usually white, rarely cream and orange.

In order to keep the fruits longer, protect them from rodents and transport them to other countries, they are cut off while still green. Fruit yield can be 400 kg / ha. Commercial plantations harvest one plant for 3-4 years, then completely remove it and plant a new one. And in nature, a banana can grow and bear fruit for up to 100 years.

When does the harvest take place?

One banana bush is able to produce a crop 2-3 times a year. They begin to pick berries when they are 75% ripe. Depending on the variety and date of planting, fruit picking starts in early January and continues until mid-November.

Do bananas grow in Russia?

Fruit can grow only in the Krasnodar Territory. Japanese banana is grown in Sochi. However, its fruits do not ripen, so the summer period is too short. In winter, the stems and leaves freeze out, and when it gets warmer, they sprout again. You can grow bananas in greenhouses and at home. Then in the summer, transplanting them into open ground, you can harvest the finished crop in September.

Bananas are berries or fruits?

The banana plant is a huge herb, and its fruits are berries. According to scientists, a berry is a juicy, soft fruit that contains several seeds. And grass is a plant with a fleshy, non-lignified stem that sinks down and dies after it has faded and produced seeds.

However, with a banana, things are a little more complicated. After the death of the first stem, a new shoot grows a little further from this root. Within a few years, the plant moves 1-1.5 meters. Banana is not only a tasty berry, but also a nutritious “vegetable” (for some countries of the world). The fruits familiar to modern man are without seeds and are grown vegetatively. For many countries, the banana is the main export crop and a staple food.

What you need to know about bananas before buying

1. Why bananas are picked unripe

It seems that the banana is protected by a dense peel and is easily transported, but this is not so. This is a very delicate fruit that can be transported at a temperature not exceeding 14 degrees. That is why bananas are usually harvested while still green and transported most often on ships equipped with refrigeration units.

2. Selling green bananas

If you ask the older generation, who bought bananas back in Soviet times, you will find out that they went on sale green, and no one processed them additionally. Now you are unlikely to choose green unripe fruits, but then, in conditions of food shortages, unripe bananas were bought with pleasure.

3. Bananas in the gas chamber

Currently, in the face of fierce competition between manufacturers and sellers, everyone wants to offer the buyer the best product. It is precisely in order that the green bananas brought from the plantations look presentable and do not ripen in the warehouse, as it is unprofitable, they are first placed in special gas chambers, where they turn yellow evenly, and only then the bananas get on store shelves.

The gas mixture that bananas are treated with is considered safe for human health and is an analogue of the gas released by bananas during natural ripening. However, this mixture affects the taste, which is significantly different from the taste of those bananas that have ripened on a palm tree.

4. Which bananas are best to eat

So what are the best bananas to eat? Among adherents of proper nutrition, there is an opinion that it is best to eat already slightly darkened bananas, on the peel of which dark dots have appeared. There is some truth in this.

The fact is that in the process of ripening, the starch contained in bananas is converted into sugars, which means that such fruits are not only tastier and sweeter, but also better digested. If you still eat a green banana, then this threatens you with discomfort in the intestines and severe gas formation, while even if not entirely aesthetic, a slightly darkened banana will not cause such problems.

5. How to control the ripening of bananas at home

If the next time you go shopping you see greenish bananas, we advise you to buy them and help them ripen on their own. It won't take long, but the taste will be softer and sweeter. Just place the bananas in a small paper bag along with another fruit like an apple or pear.

These fruits emit the same gas that is used to process bananas in gas chambers, only it happens in a more natural way. And if, on the contrary, you need to keep the bananas longer and not let them overripe, just wrap them in cling film or in a plastic bag, tying it tightly.

Benefit and harm

Mini bananas, like ordinary bananas, are extremely nutritious and beneficial for the human body. They contain the set of microelements and vitamins we need. The value and usefulness of the use of this product is evidenced by the fact that its largest producer, Brazil, consumes its entire crop in the domestic market.

Bananas have such properties as nutrition, healing, rejuvenation of the human body. They are known to quickly satisfy hunger. One or two fruits should be eaten, and the body is saturated, energy and optimism return. Although the size of a small banana is inferior to the usual one, the differences in calories between them are small. One fruit "baby" contains approximately 90 kcal.

In small bananas, there are much more microelements and vitamins than in ordinary ones. We can judge this by the pronounced taste and smell of this variety. That is why they are considered more useful. Mini-bananas contain almost all B vitamins. These vitamins play a key role in the metabolic processes of the body, contribute to the functioning of the nervous and cardiovascular systems, improve the functioning of the gastrointestinal tract, increase muscle tone, improve overall well-being and stress resistance.

The pulp of the fruit is rich in potassium and magnesium, which normalize the work of the heart, relieve stress and associated headaches. The daily dose of these elements can be replenished by eating only 4 bananas.

The fiber contained in the fruits of the plant is useful for people suffering from gastritis, stomach ulcers, diarrhea and constipation. The amino acid tryptophan improves memory and increases concentration. It is necessary for both the elderly and young people to maintain mental activity. The pectin substances contained in the "baby" bananas remove toxins from the body and lower the level of cholesterol in the blood.

Vitamin C reduces the amount of free radicals that cause the risk of developing cancer and slows down the aging process. Iron, which is present in fruits, promotes the production of hemoglobin and helps with anemia.

Not only banana fruits are useful. An infusion of flowers is used to treat diabetes and bronchitis. The juice of the stems helps against cramps. Burns and abscesses are healed with compresses from the peel and young leaves. The peel is used as a fertilizer for plants, as it contains potassium and phosphorus. Rubbing the teeth with the soft side of the peel can improve their condition and whiteness.

In addition to useful properties, even mini-bananas can harm the human body.

They are quite high in calories, so obese people should better limit their intake of fruits. This also applies to diabetics, because the ripening fetus accumulates carbohydrates with a high glycemic index (GI).

Fruits tend to remove fluid from the body, during their use you need to drink more.

Prohibited for those who have increased blood clotting, as well as people with thrombophlebitis, varicose veins, coronary heart disease. Bananas greatly increase blood viscosity, which can exacerbate these diseases.

Bananas grown on plantations can be treated with harmful substances and pesticides that can cause allergies, indigestion, and poisoning.

Grass, that is! A resident of central Russia, who is accustomed to looking for strawberries and lingonberries in a forest ant, is hard to imagine banana grass three to four meters high, on the stalk of which hang three hundred "berries" weighing half a centner. In addition, the diameter of the "grass" in a good dozen centimeters. From above, it ends with a spreading panicle of oblong leaves (which is why the reaction of a European is unambiguous: a palm tree). From the rosette of leaves hangs from top to bottom something like a one and a half meter long trunk.

Bananas do not have a trunk (like trees) - they don’t even have a normal stem. Its stem is more like a tuber and is almost invisible above the ground. But there are huge leaves - fans, up to 6 m long and up to a meter wide.

250-300 small bananas are tied on the inflorescence. The proboscis is properly called a "bunch", and what we buy and call clusters are actually brushes of four to seven fused fruits. A real banana bunch is a lot of brushes, closely adjacent to each other. Bananas have been known to mankind since ancient times.

Their homeland is called the tropical and subtropical regions of Asia, mainly India and China. At least in these countries, bananas have long been considered sacred fruits that restore strength and nourish the mind. Some of the Indian pagodas that have survived from that time have roofs that exactly repeat the shape of a banana: it was so respected. From India and China, banana culture spread to Asia Minor.

Later, they began to be grown on the east and west coasts of Africa. In the 16th century, they were brought to the Canary Islands, to Central and South America. The countries there have received, it turns out, banana plantations are the last in the world, and they are the best in growing and selling them: Ecuador, Colombia, Panama supply all of Europe with bananas. If earlier we ate - it is clear why - exclusively Cuban varieties, now we are also full-fledged Europeans: most of all in our market are Ecuadorian fruits.

A few words about how bananas are harvested. As soon as the ovaries on the bunches begin to form, a polyethylene cover is urgently pulled over it so that, God forbid, nothing sits on the ripening fruits. So they grow under caps, protected from tropical insects, for eleven weeks. They do not reach full ripeness, but they should be taken to another continent!

At this stage, the harvest time comes. Nothing has changed over the centuries: as great-grandfathers and grandfathers harvested, they do it now. The worker, holding a long pole with a powerful cleaver screwed to the end, approaches the trunk and, deftly poking at the height, cuts off a huge bunch. And how it rustles down ... (I see that our people, who give the weekend to six hundred square meters, have already shuddered: an apple or a pear will fall - it’s a pity that it will remain! And then fifty kilograms of banana tenderness crash to the ground ?!)

So they were scared in vain - centuries-old experience teaches: there is no better landing place for a bunch than the shoulders and back of a second worker, specially standing nearby. Having cheerfully depreciated, he drags the crop to the warehouse on himself. There, the bunches will be disassembled into small pieces, thrown into tanks with a special liquid for greater disinfection and long-term preservation, and then they will be caught, dried, wrapped in polyethylene, packed in branded boxes, and they will go by sea, rarely by plane, to other countries. And the "trunk" from which the bunch was cut is no longer a tenant. Dries up.

Grass is grass. But new “blades of grass” are already climbing into the light of God from the rhizome from the earth. True, they grow to maturity for a whole year. And they will also bring only one bunch each, but the renewal process on the plantations is continuous. How continuous the harvest is in a warm climate: some bunches are cut, others ripen, others are tied ... In a word, long live the eternal tropical summer! And let the bananas on our table not disappear!

At night, banana flowers are visited by bats, and during the day numerous insects, nectary birds and squirrel-like animals - tupai, which are distant relatives of monkeys, visit. Bananas generously treat all visitors with nectar. After pollination, the covering leaves fall off, and fruits begin to set in place of the flowers. There are so many lateral inflorescences on one peduncle that when the last covering leaves begin to open at its end, the fruits at the base are already ripening.

The yellow, sickle-shaped fruit of a banana bears little resemblance to a berry*, but from a botanist's point of view, a banana is a berry with a leathery shell and sweet pulp, in which numerous seeds are immersed (if you cut a banana, you can see small black dots inside).

I must say that not all types of bananas have the same fruits that we can buy in our markets and stores. Some fruits are shorter, some are oval or almost round, some are longer and thinner. When ripe, the peel sometimes does not turn yellow, but turns red. But such bananas are not delivered to us - they do not tolerate transportation well.

After fruiting, the entire huge aerial part of the plant dies off, but underground shoots have already started growing from the base of the false stem, which will give rise to new false stems. So, in a vegetative way, a banana multiplies.

A green banana has the consistency of a potato and yet tastes highly astringent and resinous - completely inedible. Bananas are harvested by completely cutting down a thick grassy trunk, with one blow of a sickle - the second time the same shoot (what is incorrectly called a palm tree in Russia) does not bear fruit. Then a bunch is cut off from the trunk and put to ripen. A few days after the harvest, green bananas ripen and become familiar to us yellow. The sale of green bananas is widespread.

Banana came to us from Malaysia, where it has been grown for 10 thousand years. Wild bananas, which can still be found in Southeast Asia, contain large, hard seeds and very little pulp. They are pollinated by bats.

The bananas in your supermarket are a cultivar chosen by growers for their fleshy flesh and lack of seeds. Cultivation gave the plant a sweet, tasty, but sterile: such a banana is not able to reproduce without human help.

Most banana plants haven't had "sex" for 10,000 years. Almost every one of the bananas that we eat with such pleasure is propagated by hand: from the shoot of an already existing plant, whose genetic fund has not been updated for 100 centuries. As a result, the banana is extremely susceptible to various kinds of diseases. Many of its species have already fallen victim to fungal infections such as "black sigatoka" and "Panama disease", which are very resistant to fungicides. And if a genetically modified variety is not developed soon, we can forget about bananas forever.

The problem, by the way, is very serious. Bananas are the world's most profitable export crop. The industry is worth $12 billion a year and supports 400 million people, many of whom live below the poverty line.

Most bananas come from hot countries, however, paradoxically, Iceland is the largest European banana producer. Bananas are grown in spacious greenhouses heated by geothermal waters, just two degrees south of the Arctic Circle.

"Fyffe" s, a multinational importing company that annually buys the entire banana crop in Belize, is Irish.

With the same mass, dried bananas contain 5 times more calories than fresh bananas.

India produces more bananas than any other country in the world.

Sprinter Linford Christie, an Olympic gold medalist, includes fried plantin in his diet before competition or training.

In East Africa, bananas are fermented to make beer.

Banana fruits are consumed raw, fried, boiled. Soups, pastries, desserts, main dishes are prepared from bananas. But special varieties of bananas are fried and boiled. Those bananas that we eat are bred by crossing different types of bananas.

Bananas are not only eaten. Black dye is made from banana peel; leaves are used for baking, instead of foil and baking paper; light buildings and rafts are made from stems; leaves are used to make packages.

Banana is widely used in medicine. Fruits help in the fight against high blood pressure, anemia, heartburn, depression. In the treatment of stomach ulcers, dysentery, bronchitis, diabetes, banana flowers are used. They are brewed and drunk like tea. Burns are well healed by young banana leaves, like our plantain.