banalities of bananas

January 23, 2007

Bananas

Filed under: Bananas — Banalities of Bananas @ 12:22 pm

Musa acuminata Colla; Musa balbisiana Colla; Musa x paradisiaca L.
Family of Musaceae.

Description & storage
Edible yellow when ripe fruit that is thick skinned and comes in bunches when marketed for distribution.

Yellow Banana
Due to their tropical origins bananas must be kept at room temperature. If you want the bananas to ripen faster place the bowl in the sun. Like other tropical fruits never store bananas in the refrigerator. Cold temperatures will make the fruit decay from the inside out, they will not last longer in the refrigerator, rather turn black and mushy and be basically un-eatable.

Plant
Banana-plants can grow up to 45 feet tall, but most plants typically vary from 10 to25 feet. The plant itself has very big leafs that can grow to up to 12 feet long.

Use
Bananas are usually eaten by hand after easily peeling off the thick skin. Depending on the type of banana unripe bananas are also cooked, fried or deep-fried a lot. Cooked bananas become much sweeter and are often uses as the basis for decadent desserts. The flavor is also savory enough that many liquors use the banana as the base flavor. A very common treat for children of all ages is the banana split.

Types
There are five common different types of bananas generally available today:

  • Red bananas: have a green/red peel and pink fruit flesh. They taste the same like yellow bananas. The redder a fruit, the more carotene it contains, so maybe they are healthier than their yellow colleagues;
  • Fruit-bananas: are the normal, yellow bananas, 15-30 cm.
  • Apple-bananas: are smaller, 8-10 cm., and ripen faster. They are also yellow;
  • The baby-banana (pisang susa): is yellow as well and measures 6-8 cm. It is the sweetest of the banana family;
  • Baking bananas: are 30 to 40 cm. large and are green, yellow or red-like. They cannot be eaten raw. They fulfill the role of the potato in the tropical countries.

    • Trival Characteristics

  • Bananas are the most well known and eaten tropical fruit.
  • In addition to liquors beer has even been brewed with bananas.
  • This tropical fruit is usually picked before it has ripened on the vine and has to ripen in the land of arrival to assure freshness.
  • Banans contain more starch than sugar.
  • Bananas are a good source of fiber, potassium and vitamin C;
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