Banana had seeds- did you know?

in #fruit7 years ago

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If banana is classified as a fruit then why doesn't it contain seeds?
The long and short of it is that they had seeds at one point infact in some parts of Southeast Asia seeds can be found in bananas, but they are considered wild banana.
The reason the bananas we eat don’t have seeds is that they are all sterile.
A disease wiped out the seeded banana, thus scientist went in their labs to find a solution, the result is the
The Gros Michel variety.

Then history repeated itself when a fungus known as Panama Disease, which first appeared in Australia in the late 1800s, changed things after jumping continents ending up in Panama South america. The disease debilitated the plants . The damage was so great and swift that in a matter of only a few decades the Gros Michel which was the most popular banana around that time went extinct.

Then came the Cavendish variety which we enjoy today.
Every banana has been propagated vegetatively**, making all the bananas of the same type clones (all the bananas available in most grocery stores are a single breed, the Cavendish). The identical genetics of bananas means quality is very consistent, the downside is the sterility of the plants makes them easy targets for diseases and parasites.

So now we know why though a fruit it does not contain seeds.

Other banana facts that may be of use someday under a fairly unlikely set of circumstance:

  • Bananas aren’t trees. The giant banana “trees” grow, flower and produce fruit and then die off, re-growing from the roots.

  • Because banana “trees” are made entirely of living tissue, they have a much higher water content than real trees and, as a result, are much more resistant to fire.

  • Banana leaves are waterproof which makes them a useful item in the the shipwreck survivor’s kitchen, and in a pinch they can even by used as an umbrella.

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Yeah, i the first time i learnt of this i found it amazing

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