Over the past century, bananas have become a staple in every kitchen around the world. Aside from being extremely healthy, delicious, and very nutritious, they are also highly convenient snack food.
1. Bananas originated in Southeast Asia and the South Pacific around 8000 to 5000 BC. Bananas have been the world’s first domesticated and cultivated fruit.
2. There are over 1000 different varieties of bananas present around the world, subdivided into 50 groups. Bananas appeared in Southeast Asia, particularly in Indonesia, and later became very popular in India. They came to Europe only after Alexander the Great introduced it to the wider world.
3. Some wild types of bananas have very large and hard seeds, but nevertheless, they are edible.
4. Musa textilis – is a type of banana tree native to the Philippine, grown for textile that light beige in color, lightweight, and very strong. Banana fiber is used for making ships’ ropes, fishing lines, and fishing nets.
5. Banana is a herbaceous plant and can grow up to seven meters in height. Its roots can be hundreds of years old, but the stem that grows above the ground withers and dies every year.
6. Bananas contain a lot of potassium, which is needed for muscle contraction, the transmission of nerve impulses, and the proper functioning of the body’s heart and kidneys. One hundred grams of banana may contain up to 350 mg of potassium.
7. More that one hundred billion bananas are consumed globally each year. That is why bananas are the fourth most popular agricultural product in the world, after wheat, rice, and corn.
8. During the export of bananas, they are picked and packed while still in an unripe state. If you purchase green bananas from a store it takes approximately three to four days for them to fully ripen.
9. Banana peel is used for soap production, because it is an excellent source of vitamin A, E, C, K, Niacin, Thiamine, Riboflavin and etc.
10. Uganda ranked number one as the highest average per capita consumption of bananas among all countries of the world. Where residents eat an average of 225 kg of bananas per person every year.
11. Although we feel a specific dryness in the mouth when we eat bananas, in fact they are 75% water.
12. Once the most popular varieties of bananas almost died out in the 20th century due to the spread of diseases that affect only these plants.
