Banana is an edible crop grown in tropical and subtropical countries. It has many varieties - green, yellow, red and even silvery. Grows on bushes reaching a height of 9 m, why the bush was called a banana tree, and the fruit was called a fruit... In fact, this is a herbaceous plant, since on a stem tightly wrapped in leaves, there is no bark and cannot be considered a trunk. Doubts - this is a grass or a tree disappears immediately. This is grass. The stems die off every year, and the shoot moves forward and gives a new shoot. Thus, the harvest per year from each stem can be harvested only once. Its seed is sterile and incapable of reproduction.

On average, one bush yields 300 bananas. Ripe fruits are sweet, the flesh is tender. But if they grow in grass, the question rightfully arises - is it a fruit or a berry? From a botanical point of view, it is a berry. Fruits grow on trees or bushes and cannot grow in grass. They are grown on huge plantations; care is no different from caring for vegetables. But don't be fooled if a fruit or vegetable grows on stems. Bananas cannot be definitely attributed to vegetables because of the sweetness of the pulp.

What is a banana rich in

Banana is the record holder for the content of nutrients. It is present in the diet of a healthy diet. Due to its high calorie content, the fruit is very satisfying and replaces a full meal. It contains a lot of vitamins and minerals necessary for the body. Potassium, magnesium, iron, fiber, vitamins B, C, E, protein, pectins, amino acids - this is not a complete list of important substances.

• potassium - normalizes fluid exchange, stimulates the nervous system, accelerates the recovery of muscle mass;
• iron - improves oxygen exchange;
• magnesium - helps the heart, improves stool;
• dietary fiber - remove toxins, help the absorption of fats and sugars;

They contain the so-called "happiness hormone" - seratonin, which helps in the fight against stress and depression. Reduces the feeling of tiredness.

Who needs to eat bananas

They improve brain function, which is important for students and people engaged in mental work. The high iron content improves the production of hemoglobin in the blood. A banana brush is a great remedy for anemia.

1. Regular consumption improves digestion, has an antacid effect that relieves heartburn.
2. A banana shake will relieve hangover symptoms.
3. When absorbed, it lowers blood sugar and relieves unpleasant conditions.
4. For people who quit smoking, bananas are an irreplaceable helper. The vitamins B6, B12, A and C contained in them make it easier for the smoker to endure the period of withdrawal from nicotine.
5. Athletes who consume bananas build muscle faster and tolerate physical activity more easily.

Interesting! Not everyone knows that the banana is a strong aphrodosiac that exhibits sex drive. And also, it restores sexual function in men, thanks to tryptophan, which is part of the pulp.

1. People suffering from varicose veins, because bananas increase the viscosity of the blood.
2. Those who have had a stroke or heart attack - for the same reason.
3. Diabetics. They contain a large amount of sucrose.
4. Children under 2 years old - because it is an exotic fruit, and the child's body adapts worse to new food.
5. People on a diet. Banana is quite high in calories and can interfere with your results.
6. For men. It is worth understanding here - they have a positive effect on male potency, but excessive use has the opposite effect. Therefore, you should not eat more than 2 pieces a day.

The color of the peel is a factor in determining maturity. The best fruits are considered to be light yellow in color, without dark spots.

These are already ripe fruits containing the greatest amount of nutrients. But in fact, the most delicious are these same bananas with specks. Although some of the beneficial properties are lost, they are much sweeter and softer, they literally melt in the mouth. You need to eat them immediately after purchase. They are not subject to storage.

Fruits with green veins mean that they have not yet ripened. These bananas can be purchased for future use and stored in the refrigerator until the desired date. It is not very pleasant to eat them in this form, their peel is tough, the flesh is dense, tasteless. They buy green bananas so that they do not overripe during transportation to the place of sale. Green bananas are not suitable for food.

It's important to know! A peel with a gray coating indicates improper storage or hypothermia during transportation. Their taste hardly changes, there is no harm to health, but there is no benefit either. All valuable substances disappear completely.

In order to preserve useful properties in bananas, it is better to acquire them in a bunch. If you need 1 or 2, it's best to eat them right away.

Is banana allergy possible? The answer is yes! Children and adults who are allergic to serotonin may develop bloating, diarrhea, gas, headache, and rashes. Symptoms may even appear after a few days. The likelihood of a reaction increases if one of the parents was allergic.

Banana - plant, on which the fruits of the same name, the most popular of the grown fruits, grow. People began to cultivate bananas many millennia ago: some researchers call the date eight thousand years, others say more than nine.
Among cultivated agricultural plants, banana is in fourth place in the world, behind only three cereals (rice, corn and wheat). Banana herb: flower and ovary>

Taxonomy and names

The genus Banana (Latin name Musa) belongs to the class of Monocots, the Angiosperms division. This genus includes more than sixty species of wild-growing bananas. In culture, no more than ten species are used, the main of which are Musa acuminata (pointed banana) and Musa X paradisiaca (paradise banana).
The paradise banana is not a natural species, but a man-made hybrid based on several wild species. Since this process took place several thousand years ago, scientists cannot reliably say which wild species served as the basis for this hybrid.
On the basis of Musa acuminata and Musa X paradisiaca, hundreds of different varieties have been bred by selection, which differ in size, taste, color and even content of organic components.
The number of wild species is difficult to determine: many species are considered subspecies, hybrids or variations. Some scientists believe that the Banana genus includes 40-45 species, others call the number above 70. Banana plantation>

Natural range and modern distribution

All wild-growing species of bananas originated from two centers of origin of cultivated plants: tropical and East Asian. This is the territory of Korea, Japan, South China, the islands of Southeast Asia (Malay Archipelago), India, Indochina.
Bananas are now common in tropical, subtropical and equatorial regions of the Old and New Worlds.
Bananas can grow almost anywhere in the presence of warmth, nutrient substrates and moisture (large leaves encourage strong evaporation of water).
Some types of bananas have sufficient cold hardiness, and can withstand temperatures as low as 0 degrees. They were introduced in the Caucasus and the South Coast of Crimea, but they are used only for decorative purposes: the fruits of these bananas do not have time to ripen during the warm period. The fruits of the banana plant are called bananas>
Note: there is only one unusual type of banana that comes from Abyssinia (West Africa).

We advise you to read: Why bananas are good for you
Arabian Coffee Tree
Perseus American (Avocado)

Banana morphology

Life form banana is a perennial herb with a stem located underground. The vertical "trunk" is formed by leaves arranged in a spiral, which enter one into the other. The height of a banana depends on the variety or variety, it can reach 8-10 m, but there are also decorative dwarf forms that are grown in pots. Their height is 50-70 cm.
Root system the banana is fibrous, well developed in width (up to 5 m), but penetrates only 1-1.5 m deep into the depths. Because of such a root system, the plant often suffers from strong winds that pull it out of the ground. Therefore, on banana plantations on the eve of strong hurricanes, plants are cut almost to the root. Bananas grow quickly, under suitable conditions, one leaf per week, and the owners do not have to plant a new plantation.
Leaves bananas are simple, whole, without stipules, with parallel venation, 2-5 m long, up to 70 cm wide. In strong winds they break, which gives the impression that the leaves are dissected. Torn leaves reduce windage, which saves the plant from strong winds and heavy rains.
Flowers the banana has three types: small male, bisexual sterile medium-sized and large female. All three types of flowers are collected in one large racemose inflorescence, the size of which can exceed a couple of meters.
Flowers are arranged in tiers, each of which is collected in a bunch of 10-20 flowers.
Female flowers are bright, pink, lilac or reddish, very showy, located at the top of the inflorescence. All flowers are irregular in shape, three-membered, tubular. Gynoecium is also three-membered, forms a three-chambered ovary.
Flowers are rich in nectar, they are pollinated by birds (ornithophilia) or animals (zoophilia).
Bananas, which are pollinated by bats, bloom in the evening. Bananas that are pollinated by other mammals or birds bloom in the morning. Banana Blossom>
Fruit bananas are multi-seeded berries, they develop only from female flowers. The shape of the fruit is usually triangular - according to the number of carpels. Most banana pods are elongated (slightly or strongly), curved, 4 to 40 cm long. One fruiting inflorescence can produce up to 300 bananas.
Seeds bananas are single-cotyledonous, firm, round, up to 15 mm long, brown in color. In nature, their distribution is facilitated by animals - zoocoria.
Wild bananas have so many seeds in their fruits that their weight can exceed the weight of the pulp.
Fruiting and reproduction... Banana is a monocarpic plant, that is, it bears fruit only once in a lifetime. After flowering and fruiting, the ground part of the banana dies off. But in the process of the growth of the main plant, the banana forms many dormant buds underground. Some of them germinate, forming new individuals. This vegetative propagation is very effective because it takes less time than seed propagation. In addition, most cultivated bananas have seedless fruits and plants reproduce exclusively in a vegetative manner.
Geotropism... Bananas have a rare biological phenomenon - negative geotropism. The axis, on which fruits growing downward are formed, under the influence of phytohormones, begins to grow upward.

Banana - grass or palm?

All representatives of the class of Monocotyledonous plants have no cambium; therefore, the thickening occurs due to the secondary meristem. The banana does not have a tree bump, and the pseudostem is only parts of leafy cuttings. Banana grass is one of the tallest in the world>
Another distinguishing feature of a banana from any type of palm is its simple leaves.
Banana is mistaken for a palm tree due to the fact that it has a smooth "trunk", and the top ends with a bunch of leaves, as for example, an adult coconut or date palm.
The height of bananas also contributed to the misconception of people: Musa itinerans (giant banana) can have a "stem" up to 2 meters in diameter, reaching a height of 12 meters - it is difficult to imagine a grass of this size.
Banana is one of the world's largest herbaceous plants.

Sometimes people have questions that surprise them. For example, the question is: is a banana a fruit or a berry? The question may also arise: is a banana a herb or a tree? In this article, we will look at the essence of these issues.

Let's start by defining a fruit. Fruit is a concept, most likely culinary and household than botanical. By fruit is meant all sweet large fruits of plants. Therefore, a banana in everyday life, of course, is a fruit. But a berry in the culinary and everyday concept is all small fruits of plants, so in everyday life a banana cannot be a berry.

In botany under the word "fruit" the word "fruit" is used. The fruit is a plant reproductive organ that is formed from a flower that contains seeds. The fruits are different. One of the types of fruit is a berry. In botany, a berry is understood as the fruit of a plant with a thin skin, juicy pulp and seeds. Store-bought bananas do not have seeds, but wild bananas contain black seeds. It turns out that bananas meet these criteria. Bananas are berries.

Banana grass or tree?

As for the question of whether a banana is a tree or a grass, everything is simple here. Bananas are giant perennial herbs. Each banana shoot bears fruit only once, then it dies, and a new shoot grows in its place.

The banana palm is not a tree, as is commonly believed, but a grass. Because its "trunk" does not contain wood. The false stem is formed from tightly adjoining twisted leaves that can reach over five meters in length and up to one and a half meters in width. After flowering, the part of the grass that is above the ground dies. But its place is taken by the largest shoot located at the root.

Banana, like, belongs to the genus of the largest perennial herbaceous plants and grows up to ten meters or more.

According to the research of the world famous breeder N. Vavilov, the native land of the banana plant is the southeast of Asia. Already from there, about four thousand years ago, it migrated to India. It was in the ancient manuscripts of the Rig Veda, Mahabharatha and Ramayana, which tell about the gods of the Hindu pantheon, that the first written mentions of bananas were found.

Interestingly, the first attempt at growing bananas in Europe was made by Alexander the Great at the beginning of the fourth century because I was amazed at their taste. However, with his death, the undertaking also died.

Three centuries later, thanks to the nomadic tribes of the Arabs, banana palms flooded the east of the African continent. Interestingly, their fruits owe their name to the Arabic word "finger", although the nomads themselves used the name "muses".

And only at the beginning of the fifteenth century, Europeans began to take an interest in this useful agricultural crop. So bananas came to the territory of South America together with the Spanish-Portuguese colonialists, who had already managed to bring the herb to the Canary Islands and Haiti.

Bananas have long been unpopular in Europe and North America due to transportation difficulties. Since fruits can be transported at a temperature of no higher than 14 degrees Celsius. Everything changed only at the end of the nineteenth century after the invention of the first cooling mechanisms.

How banana grass grows and bears fruit

Despite all the efforts of the breeders, it was possible to withdraw just a few varieties, which can bear fruit at temperatures below 10 degrees. All other varieties, and there are more than two hundred of them, simply fall asleep at temperatures below 16-10 degrees, almost completely stopping their vital activity.

The fruits of banana plants grow in one large bunch on a stem that sprouts between the leaves of the false trunk, and not at the very top, like coconuts. One such bunch can contain from several tens to several hundred fruits, depending on their size and type.

The opinion that a banana is a fruit is fundamentally wrong, because only the fruits of trees are considered as such. But berries are already growing on the bushes and grass. Therefore, bananas are typical berries, along with raspberries, currants or strawberries.

And some more interesting and little-known facts about banana grass and its fruits:

• wild bananas have virtually no pulp, since most of it is occupied by large seeds;
• not all varieties are edible, some are considered technical and are used to make ship gear and fabrics;
• clothes made of banana leaf fibers were sacred in the Hindu epic;
• in the old days, Buddhist monks made banana drinks, including alcoholic ones.

In the twenty-first century, the demand for bananas continues to grow, and in some countries its consumption is up to eighty kilograms per year per person. The export volume of these fruits is second only to grain, corn and sugar.

We all, well, or many of us, love bananas and eat them with pleasure. But at the same time, no one knows what it is. Some people think that a banana is a berry, others that a banana is a fruit. And not everyone can answer the question whether a banana is a grass or a tree!
What we see in cartoons and films, where a monkey climbs a palm tree and eats bananas, plays a cruel joke with us. And so we think that they grow on palms, which means that a banana is a tree. No matter how it is!

In fact, our beloved banana is a herb, that is, the fruit of a herbaceous plant. Despite the fact that it is called a "banana tree", it has nothing to do with trees. In fact, it is a large pile of leaves, on top of which is something that looks like a palm tree. The flower bud grows in a stem that sits right in the middle of these leaves. Another thing is that this grass can grow to a fairly large size, and therefore many confuse a bush with a palm tree. It is probably the largest plant in the world.

Now let's figure it out: a banana is a berry or a fruit. It turns out that a banana is a berry. It originated in Southeast Asia and arrived in India thousands of years ago. It is, in fact, one of the oldest known fruits for mankind. Wild banana varieties, found in Malaysia and Southeast Asia, contain large and hard seeds combined with very little pulp. This berry is eaten not only raw, but also boiled, fried, boiled, and even wine is made from it.
By the way, the word "banana" itself is of African origin and is most likely associated with the Arabic word "banana", which means "finger" or "fingers".