Are Bananas Man-Made? Full Guide About Bananas

Do you know bananas do exist before humans? At that time, they had seeds in them, which made them hard to eat.

After hearing this, you must be a little surprised, but it is true. The bananas you eat today are genetically modified using intense cross-breeding that produces bananas which cannot reproduce.

I think that’s not enough to determine whether bananas are man-made or not. For further clarification, I dig into all the blurry backgrounds of the plants, which I have explained in detail here to provide an answer to their existence.

Are Bananas Man-Made?

The short answer is yes, in the case of the bananas which are modern seedless dessert bananas made by humans selecting two species of wild bananas such as “Musa acuminata.” and “Musa balbisiana species”.

• The Musa acuminata are a species that are fleshly inside but they do have foul-tasting. they are native to Southeast Asia.
• Musa balbisiana is a species that contains seeds that make it unappetizing but they do taste delicious. they are native to southern China. The seeds of the bananas are large in size and not edible. They are more resistant to diseases.

Origins of the Banana:

There were times when bananas had seeds in them. The farmers after 5000 BC started to create hybrid bananas for getting rid of the seeds of bananas by which they make the fruit more visually appealing. After some decades bananas without seeds are developing all over the world now also there are very tiny seeds in the banana but that is not so noticeable as they are insignificant. The banana varieties mostly today have been discovered in Southeast Asia which includes Malaysia, Indonesia, and the Philippines.

Nowadays there are many banana cultivators such as 300 to more than 1000 cultivators. These are clones in a sense because the creation of these is done by years of hybridization and gets the last result into the bananas we eat now. 

The bananas that are available in the grocery stores are known as Cavendish bananas. This is done to easily distinguish between the plantain bananas that have the same appearance but are bigger in size.

Birth Of Modern Banana Varieties:

Now as per the technology, the birth of modern banana variety is done by the farmers and breeders who employed selective breeding and cross-breeding techniques which help them develop bananas that have enhanced sweet texture and are resistant to pests and diseases. Biotechnology and genetics have invented advanced banana cultivation which has more advanced genetic modification technology than the traditional breeding method.

How Are Bananas Grown?

Bananas come under the perennial plant category and are able to replace themselves by growing from rhizome or bulb but not from seed.

After the plantation of the bulb, it will take 9 to 12 months before the fruit can be harvested. The bananas are plants that can be cultivated year round having no limitation to a season. They are best grown in the tropics and need to provide rich fertile soil beds with consistent moisture and good drainage.

Difference between regular bananas  and bananas  Genetically Modified:

The bananas that are genetically modified are the bananas that have the DNA altered by genetic engineers. In short, these are the bananas in which the genes from one organism are inserted into the DNA of the banana which changes the characteristics of the regular bananas.

Regular bananas do have seeds in them and the taste is different from genetically modified bananas.

What Killed The Old Banana?

The Panama disease which was a fungus started in fact in the entire plantation and caused the global banana trade to collapse. Which makes the world’s entire plantation down. Until about 1960  Michael was successful in finding the solution. After the collabolization of bananas, the banana industry adopted the Cavendish banana variety which was resistant to the Panama diseases.

Interesting Facts About Bananas:

A person who loves bananas would love to know interesting facts about bananas or already know about them such as:

• If you are having a bunch of bananas it is called a hand and having one banana is called a finger.
• Bananas do consist of 75% of water.
• There are many songs that have been written about bananas, not on any other fruits.
• The bananas are actually called a berry.
• Bananas are used to float in the water.
• They do consist of serotonin which is a happy hormone.
• The banana has been found in Egyptian hieroglyphics.

Best Varieties of Banana to Grow at Home:

There are many types of bananas that are best to be grown at home such as the Dwarf Cavendish, Dwarf Brazilian, Goldfinger bananas, Grand Nain bananas, Mysore, and Rajapuri bananas. If you are confused about which variety to grow at home you can get the concert from the local gardening center which will suggest you the best variety according to your location. 

The best place for growing the bananas at home is only when you get a minimum of 10 months per year which are frost-free months.

Ethical Considerations & Environmental Impacts

There have been monoculture practices which had led to devasting banana disease tests and biodiversity loss. With all of these, it considers fair trade, and labor rights in the industry.

The environmental and sustainability issues demand for more attention and focus on the reduction of ecological footprints in banana cultivation and do mixture there is a bright future in cherishing the banana.

You need to reserve the bananas for the future generation so that they can enjoy the diverse banana varieties that are available for you in the present.
If you want to preserve the bananas you need to conserve wild banana species and their habitat. If you maintain a gene pool it will ensure to have banana crops which have residence against the diseases and pests. They will be able to adapt to every change in environmental conditions.

Do “Natural” Bananas Exist?

The answer is yes the natural bananas do exist in the wild that you can see in the north, southern China, and Eastern South Asia.

You can also find hybrid plantain bananas, desert bananas along with other types of bananas that are popular. The bananas that are sweeter in taste are the desert bananas and Cavendish bananas.

The bananas which are plantain are larger in size less sweet and have thicker skin. They are used to have more starch present in them and you need to cook them before you want to eat them. 

Conclusion:

The bananas are a hybridized fruit from the beginning of thousands of years ago and they come under the category of man-made. There are few people who know think that bananas were then only introduced but the truth is that they have been commercially available since the 1800s.

To find out the answer you really need to understand the origin and development of bananas which is have explained in this article.

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