BANANAS is a fruit that everybody knows is so good for you and is a favourite throughout the world.
They contain essential nutrients that can have a protective impact on our health.
There have been many studies done to ascertain the value of eating bananas.
Some of which espouse the value for our heart health and weight loss and also to antioxidants and blood sugar levels.
Bananas, seemingly do wonders for you from improving your sleep quality to keeping high blood pressure at bay.
Being high in potassium, the more potassium you eat the more sodium your body gets rid of.
Just be aware that eating too many, like most other foods could have a detrimental effect if taking other medications.
Sometimes in banana plantations, bags are often placed over ripening fruit bunches and there are a couple of reasons for this to happen.
One is to protect the fruit from animals or insects raiding the plant, the other uses the bags to trap the ethylene gas, which is reabsorbed, subsequently making the fruit ripen faster.
There are also studies being done to have edible vaccines introduced into certain plants including bananas.
Mainly to be used in poorer countries where refrigeration is a problem.
Banana blossom or “banana heart” is the flower that grow from the end of the banana fruit cluster and is used in southeast Asian cooking, being raw and chunky.
Google says that it makes a great alternative for fish.
Evidently this will be another plant-based product suitable for vegan menus.
There are about 22 million people who identify as “flexitarians”, that is, people who eat meat but want to cut down on their consumption.
A little-known fact is that an Australian company “papyrus” listed on the ASX has won another contract to build a banana fibre moulding plant in Egypt where they will use waste from bananas as a feed stock for the creation of biodegradable food containers and similar products.
Evidently bananas that don’t make the cut cause methane emissions which are a more potent greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide.
All is not rosy growing bananas and growers have to be constantly on the lookout for Panama disease, one of the most severe threats to the banana industry.
It is a soil born fungi known as “race 4”, affecting the leaves first then large brown spots on the fruit.
There is no cure and once the disease is detected the plant must be destroyed.
There are plenty of tasty banana recipes including banana bread, muffins, brownies, carrot cake and banana ice cream to make, if you feel inclined, while the skins can go to feed the elk horns and other plants.
Of course you could always use a banana leaf to protect you from getting wet like this little fellow.
