Bananas, anyone?

Bananas are one of the most popular and most consumed fruits in the world. They occupy around 75% of the total tropical fruit trade. Who to blame? Bananas have the reputation of being delicious, convenient to eat than most fruits (no need for a handy knife), nutritious, and rather cheap. As a matter of facts, many poor countries rely on bananas for almost 30% of their daily calories.

Want to learn more about this wonderful gift from nature? Here are 10 Interesting Banana Facts To Digest.

Interesting banana facts

• Equador is the biggest exporter bananas. In 2019, the Latin country exported bananas at a value of US$ 3.3 billion dollars or 22.6 % of total exports. The Philippines is the second biggest exporter with US$ 1.9 billion of exports.
• Ecuadorians consumed the most bananas in the world as well as per average capita consumption. On average a single person consumes almost 220 pounds of bananas per year.
•  Bananas are climacteric fruits. Climacteric fruits are fruits like mangoes, tomatoes, papayas, and bananas, that continue to ripen even after harvesting. This is why bananas farmers pick bananas that aren’t yet mature enough—ripening continues during storage or transport.
• The inside of the banana peel is very effective for whitening teeth because it contains manganese, potassium and magnesium! Want to confirm this? Try rubbing a banana peel on your teeth for 2 minutes every night for 2 weeks.
• Bananas are the world’s largest herbs. Yes, not trees. Though popularly called banana trees, their succulent tree stem makes them a part of the herb family.

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Here are 5 more!

• Bananas have over 1000 varieties cultivated around the world! They come in many different sizes, shapes and even taste. However, the most commonly sold variety is the Cavendish cultivar. The Cavendish banana is characterized by their vibrant yellow color, and slightly sweet flavor. The Cavendish variety was named after William Cavendish, the 6th Duke of Devonshire, England.
• The spots in bananas normally normally indicates the amount of sugar content it in. The more spots there are, the more amount of starch have been converted to sugar.
• Browning bananas are the best choice for health-conscious individuals. The breakdown of chlorophyll makes bananas turn brown, but as the bananas age, their antioxidant level are at their highest. So do not do away with those mushy, very sweet, and brown bananas just yet.
• The banana peel also contains antioxidants. It has been used as a traditional anti-septic and anti-inflammatory medicine.
• Bananas in the world market are clones! Wild bananas have seeds in them that enable them to reproduce sexually. But not the ones that contain no seeds like the Cavendish variety, which accounts for 99% of the banana export market. To propagate such variety, farmers cut parts of an existing plant (stems, roots, or leaves), and use them to grow new plants.

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