Bananas
Can you imagine these days a popular hit song on the radio which started, “Have a banana”? There was a time when this was true!
Ten years ago, some friends sang that as they gave us a few young banana plants. I planted them on the bottom edge of our chooks’ yard where the hens free range. There is a bit of a slope with good drainage, plenty of sunshine, and a good supply of our grey water. They have flourished, bearing fruit which we cut as large hands of bananas and give to all of our friends, family and church members.
Are bananas a fruit or a herb? That is a good question! The banana we eat is actually a fruit. The black piece that sometimes remains on the end of the banana is the dead flower. Along the centre of the banana can sometimes be seen very small black dots. These are the remnants of seeds. The commercial varieties of bananas in Australia are sterile, therefore the fruit do not contain viable seeds. So don’t plant a banana and think it will grow.
The banana plant itself, however, is herbaceous. The trunk (or pseudostem) is not woody at all but represents the tightly wound petioles of the banana leaves. That is why if you try to cut them with a saw the teeth of the saw will gum up with fibre. As a monocot, bananas fall into the family of grasses along with corn, wheat and rice. A technical definition of the banana plant? A giant herbaceous monocotyledonous perennial with a horizontal underground rhizome of the Genus Musa – you did ask me!
Where are bananas grown? Although bananas can be grown virtually anywhere there are sheltered conditions and water, commercial plantations tend to stay in the warmer, higher rainfall (or irrigated) areas of the country. On the east coast of Australia bananas are grown commercially as far south as Nambucca and Yarrahapinni, south of Coffs Harbour through to the Daintree in far north Queensland. In Western Australia the main growing areas are Carnarvon and Kununurra. There are a small number of plantations in the Northern Territory around the irrigated area of Humpty Doo.
Why are developing bananas covered with a plastic bag? Commercially grown bananas are covered with a plastic bag soon after the bunch emerges from the plant to create a warmer micro-climate around the fruit, shortening the time to maturity and helping keep the bunch clean. It also keeps the fruit bats away.
The colour of a bunch cover has a significant impact upon the rate at which the fruit develop, with some of the most popular colours being blue and green (light and dark). Silver covers help prevent fruit burn during the summer. Other colours depend upon the area.
Why are bananas bent? Bananas start life very, very straight but as the bunch emerges from the top of the plant and the bracts roll back (bracts are the leathery purple things that separate the hands of bananas) and fall off, the bananas begin to spread out and turn upward. Incidentally the purple bracts are good to eat in a salad and in many parts of the world are used as plates for salads. They bend because bananas are negatively geo-tropic. This means that they grow away from the pull of gravity, as opposed to turning upward toward the sun. Because the bunch is quite large and hangs almost straight down, the bananas generally have an even bend in them all the way round the bunch.
Why are the centres of my banana black? Sometimes bananas without any bruising or damage evident on the skin develop a black centre that can be very unappealing (no pun intended) when bitten into. While there are several possible causes for black centres in bananas, the most likely is that the fruit has suffered an impact or a sustained pressure to the tip of the flower end. This will happen to bananas if cartons have begun to collapse or have been dropped when the fruit is just beginning to ripen. We place ours carefully in a large bowl on the table top where they can be easily accessed by the family.
However, Ladyfinger bunches sit almost at right angles to the plant and the bananas on the top side of the bunch grow straight upward while the bananas on the bottom side twist right around. Though there is no difference in the fruit the twisted bananas from the bottom side of the bunch generally don’t make it to market, which is one reason that Ladyfinger bananas are more expensive because not all the bunch can be marketed.
A banana bunch is ready to pick when the fruit is still green, but just starting to yellow. For the home gardener, harvesting them by hand might be a better option. Hold the heavy bunch up, and with a sharp kitchen cleaver cut them with a swift blow. Ripening green bananas is easy. Bananas, like all ripening fruit, produce a gas called ethylene. This is a plant hormone, which stimulates further ripening. If ripe bananas are put into a bag with green bananas, ethylene from the yellow bananas will speed up the ripening of the green ones.
What are the health benefits of eating bananas? They are a good source of potassium, I believe. When I was a young teenage boy, the girls in our youth group were very keen on eating fairly green bananas. I could not understand that as they seem hard to digest. But a few years later a mate told me that girls believed that green bananas were good for promoting growth in girls’ breasts! I have no idea of the truth or not of such a benefit.
Two bananas provide enough energy for a strenuous 90-minute workout, but energy isn’t the only way a banana can help us fit.
Depression: High in trytophan, a protein the body converts into serotonin, research has shown bananas can make you relax, improve your mood, and generally make you feel happier.
Anaemia: High in iron, bananas can stimulate the production of haemoglobin in the blood and help in cases of anaemia.
Blood Pressure: High in potassium yet low in salt, bananas are a great way to regulate blood pressure. So much so, the US Food and Drug Administration have just allowed the banana industry to make official claims on the fruit’s ability to reduce the risk of stroke.
Brain Power: Research has shown that this potassium-packed fruit can assist learning by making pupils more alert.
Hangovers: One of the quickest ways of curing a hangover is to make a banana smoothie sweetened with honey. The banana calms the stomach and, with the help of the honey, builds up depleted blood sugar levels, while the milk soothes and re-hydrates your system.
Heartburn: Bananas have a natural antacid effect in the body, so if you suffer from heartburn, try eating a banana for soothing relief.
Mosquito bites: Before reaching for the insect bite cream, try rubbing the affected area with the inside of a banana skin. Many people find it amazingly successful at reducing swelling and irritation.
Snacking at work: Studies at the Institute of Psychology in Austria found work pressure can lead to gorging on comfort food like chocolate and chips. The report concluded that to avoid panic-induced cravings, we need to control blood sugar levels by snacking on high carbohydrate foods every two hours to keep levels steady.
Ulcers: The banana is used as the dietary food against intestinal disorders because of its soft texture and smoothness. It is the only raw fruit that can be eaten without distress in over-chronicler cases. It also neutralizes over-acidity and reduces irritation by coating the lining of the stomach.
Strokes: According to research in the New England Journal of Medicine, eating bananas as part of a regular diet can cut the risk of death by strokes by as much as 40%
However, a nutritionist tells me that bananas are a natural antacid and help keep your muscles from cramping. 1 banana = 105 calories, 0.5 g. fat, 27 g carbohydrate, 1.2 g protein. That sounds pretty right! But does that include those delicious bananas deep-fried in batter? Or those chopped up with cream and ice-cream and a little sugar? Or mixed in a banana smoothie?
Rev the Hon Dr Gordon Moyes AC MLC