What is a banana and what does it taste like, today everyone knows, and in this article we will talk about the species diversity of these plants, about where bananas are native, in which countries they are cultivated and what is an indoor banana.
What is a banana?
So, from a botanical point of view, a banana is a tall, perennial herbaceous plant belonging to the banana family (Latin: Músa). Please note that we use this word for both the plant itself and its edible fruit.
The unusual name - Músa - was given to these plants by Georg Rumph, a Dutch botanist of German origin who first described them, who lived in the 17th century. There are several versions of why Rumph took this particular word. One of them, which seems to be the most probable today, reports that the botanist borrowed this "muse" from the Arabs, who called bananas that way. Since then, the word has remained unchanged in the modern botanical classification.
Generally speaking, the fruits of this plant are classified as berries. Few people know that a real banana in nature is a multi-seeded berry with a thick skin.
By the way, just a processcultivation and vegetative propagation (by cutting off the shoots or part of the rhizomes) made it possible to grow bananas without seeds. This is how the banana of paradise (Musa paradisiaca) appeared - the one that most of us see on the shelves of supermarkets. Two original species are considered its "ancestors" - the dwarf banana and the balbis banana. The cultivation of this plant for many tropical countries today is the most important export item, which is second only to cereals.
Grass, palm or tree?
The real trunk of this plant is very small, sometimes it protrudes above the ground only a few centimeters (from 5 to 30), then there are huge leaves tightly adjacent to each other with petioles and axils - they form a "false trunk ", which sometimes rises above the ground to a significant, sometimes up to 10 meters, height. This overall impression of a often powerful, scaly trunk from a distance leads many to call the plant a "banana tree" or a "palm tree".
In fact, banana trees are pawpaws, plants that belong to a completely different family - annonaceae. Their fruits have only a vague resemblance to bananas, but pawpaws are considered extratropical and grow in some southern and southeastern American states.
Bananas cannot be attributed to palm trees either, since these are plants that belong to a completely different family, namely palm trees. Therefore, the question of where the birthplace of the banana palm is located can be considered incorrect.
All bananas -These are multi-flowered plants. Each of the flowers consists of several tubular petals and usually three sepals. Most banana flowers are white, but there are also outer leaves that cover them, which are light purple, pink, or double-sided, in different shades. In addition, different types of this plant have different inflorescences - erect or drooping.
The flowers are so large that they are not pollinated by insects, but by bats - at night and by birds - in daylight. Mammals, such as small varieties of monkeys, can also "work" as pollinators.
The birthplace and origin of the banana
It is believed that this plant is one of the oldest cultivated by man. This is about Asia Minor. Banana cultivation is as old as rice cultivation and sugar cane cultivation.
Gradually, this plant spread and became a "citizen" of the countries of the tropics and subtropics, and these are the lands of South Asia, Latin America, Malaysia, some areas of Australia, Africa and even Japan.
Where do bananas grow, in which countries? In many southern lands, bananas are the main source of food. For example, in Ecuador, the annual per capita consumption of bananas is 73.8 kg, while in Burundi it is slightly less than 190 kg.
Today, bananas are industrially cultivated in Bhutan (this is a small state located between India and China), Sri Lanka, India, Nepal, China, Bangladesh, Thailand, Pakistan, Brazil. It's giant grassthey tried to acclimatize in Russia, in areas near Sochi, but the banana stubbornly could not withstand the winter temperature below zero degrees, and under prolonged adverse weather conditions, the berries could not ripen.
Banana varieties
In addition to the banana of paradise, with the fruits of which we are well acquainted, there are many varieties of this plant - in other words, the banana family is quite numerous. To date, about 200 varieties of this fruit plant are known. Among them are both edible and decorative, and even technical, the leaves of which are used to produce fiber. The pulp of edible bananas is eaten fresh, as well as fried, dried. Marmalade and jam are also made from it, syrups and wines are prepared. Bread is made from the powder of some floury varieties of bananas.
The colors of grown bananas are mostly yellow, but in a variety of varieties there are blue, red, white-green, as well as bananas with stripes and having a rectangular (it is customary to say - square) shape in section.
Let's look at just a few species of this plant for clarity.
Chinese dwarf banana
The dwarf banana (Musa acuminata) grows in southern China. Otherwise, it is called dessert or pointed. This plant is usually one and a half to two meters tall. It grows well in tubs or containers, it will successfully fit in and decorate any interior, as well as an indoor palm tree. The homeland of the indoor banana is South Asia, so the plant, like all its counterparts, cannot stand low temperatures.
Beforethe appearance of an inflorescence should usually appear at least forty rather large leaves, and it takes about a hundred days for the fruit to ripen. Inflorescences consist of tubular flowers, purple in the outer part. Inside they are dark red, filled with nectar. Flowers surround the trunk of a banana tree in two layers.
Dwarf banana with proper care in a year and a half forms an inflorescence, which will soon please the owner with a whole bunch (sometimes they say - a brush) of small but edible fruits. Their length is usually from 3-5, rarely up to 30 cm, they are green or greenish-yellowish with white flesh. After the fruits ripen, the trunk will die, and a new shoot will appear from the tuber.
Dwarf indoor banana can bloom and bear fruit all year round.
Balbis Banana
The birthplace of the banana plant of this species is India and Sri Lanka. Latin name - Musa balbisiana.
It is much higher than the dwarf one - 3 meters, but this is due to large leaf blades. According to the outlines, they have a chopped end and a heart-shaped base. The fruits of this type of banana are up to 10 cm long, yellowish, quickly blackening. Although they are sweet, they have seeds.
These bananas are an important crop because they are used as pig feed. Fruits not included in the period of maturity are preserved.
Banana banks (Musa banksii)
The birthplace of bananas of this species is Northern Australia.
The plant reaches four meters in height and has one and a half meters of leaves. Such a giantinvoluntarily reminds the one contemplating it of palm trees. Although in reality, we repeat, a banana is not a tree and not a palm tree at all, but a grass.
Japanese banana and others
Although this plant is also found in Japan, the country itself cannot be called the birthplace of bananas. He appeared on this earth a long time ago, being imported from mainland China. Its fruits do not ripen here and cannot be called edible. Sometimes they are fried like potatoes.
Otherwise, the Japanese banana is called textile or technical - fiber is obtained from leaf sheaths for the production of cables and ropes, which are particularly durable and practically not subject to decay. These fibers are also used to make screens, book bindings, some types of clothing, and even wickerwork.
Manna banana (Musa mannii) has very beautiful and large inflorescences, but its fruits are inedible. The country where Manna bananas grow in the wild is India. The height of the plant is approximately comparable to the height of a person, so its inflorescences are very convenient for visitors to observe. For these reasons, the manna banana is often grown in greenhouses and botanical gardens.
Ethiopian banana, red-flowered, velvety, etc. are also cultivated as ornamental crops.
Bananas in stock. Cavendish
But under what names these fruits appear on the shelves of our stores. Let's consider them by taste and external signs, without delving into biological characteristics. You should also keep in mind that the name of the banana variety has several possible variations.
One ofThe most common varieties of bananas in the modern store and market assortment is the Cavendish banana. Each fruit is 25 or so centimeters long. They are usually picked green, unripe (the birthplace of bananas is Malaysia, but they are grown in many hot countries), after which they are sent to the consumer. The ripening process begins when the fruits are treated with a special mixture. As a rule, it is a gas mixture of nitrogen and ethylene. When ripe, the appearance of small brown specks is considered common. However, a fruit that has turned brown or has large chocolate-colored spots is considered overripe.
A miniature variety of the Cavendish is a banana called ladyfingers (other variants of the name are baby or mini). This variety of banana does not have any special gastronomic differences, except perhaps for portioned attractiveness. Small bananas are convenient as a snack and are also popular with kids.
Manzano
Manzano bananas are also unusual - their fruits have a reddish-brown, blackish or maroon color in maturity. Yellow, unlike most bananas, indicates that the berry is not ripe.
Manzano fruit has a light apple-strawberry flavor. Its pulp is tougher than that of an ordinary berry and tastes like an apple (hence another version of the name - "apple"). Among bananas, this variety holds the record for vitamin C content: 100 grams of pulp contains a quarter of the daily dose needed by a person.
Manzano is eaten fresh,and are used in the preparation of various dishes. Another of its distinguishing features is the pulp, which practically does not darken in the air. This allows her to maintain an aesthetic appearance for a long time, which is why this variety is used for making salads and various desserts.
The birthplace of these bananas is Central and South Africa. And the largest supplier by far is Costa Rica.
Plantine and others
The largest amount of starch is found in a variety called "Plantain". The country where this banana grows is India, but it is also popular in the Caribbean and Mexico. It is usually pre-fried or stewed, as it is not suitable for eating raw. The ripe fruit has a brownish-black skin, and the flesh is light pink.
Special attention deserves the royal variety of bananas, or Pisang Raja. The origin and homeland of this plant is Malaysia and Indonesia. Today, these bananas are sometimes grown in Singapore as well. They are said to be dry in taste. They are very popular with local residents - none of their meals can do without them. Unripe, these bananas can be fried or added to pancake batter, which is what local eateries do.
Barro bananas have an unusual, close to rectangular shape. The flesh of the fruit is slightly yellowish, with a slight smell of lemon.
Finally, the white-green-striped banana is called ae-ae, there is a slight bitterness in the taste of the berry. Growing this variety involves somecomplexity, so they are almost never on sale.
We told where and in what countries bananas grow.
