Bananas are delicious and edible fruits that are botanically classified as berries. They are also a tasty and nutritious snack. Let’s find out more about bananas.

1. Bananas come in not only yellow but also red varieties. Red bananas have a more delicate flesh and are not suitable for transportation.

2. Banana plants are commonly referred to as “banana trees,“ but technically they are herbaceous plants (or “herbs“) rather than trees because their stems do not contain true woody tissue.

3. Bananas are the most popular fruit in the world: in fact, over 100 billion bananas are consumed worldwide every year, with around 51% of them being eaten for breakfast.

4. Bananas are a good source of B vitamins, which can help alleviate insomnia, mood swings, and irritability.

5. India and Brazil produce more bananas than any other country in the world.

6. Bananas are believed to have originated up to 10,000 years ago, and some scientists speculate that they may have been the world’s first fruit.

7. Bananas are nearly one and a half times more nutritious than potatoes, and dried bananas have five times more calories than raw bananas. One banana contains up to 300mg of potassium, which helps combat high blood pressure and strengthen the heart muscle. Each person needs 3 or 4 grams of potassium per day.

8. In 327 BCE, when Alexander the Great and his army invaded India, he discovered banana crops in the Indian valleys. After trying this unusual fruit for the first time, he introduced it to the Western world.

9. There are over 1,000 different varieties of bananas grown worldwide today. However, 95% of banana exports come from one cultivated variety – Cavendish.

10. Export bananas are harvested green and ripen in special rooms upon arrival in the destination country. These rooms are sealed and filled with ethylene gas to induce ripening. The bright yellow color that consumers usually associate with supermarket bananas is actually a result of an artificial ripening process.

11. Mait Lepik from Estonia won the world’s first banana-eating speed competition. He managed to eat 10 bananas in 3 minutes. His secret was eating the bananas with the peel, which saved him time.

12. If bananas are too green, you can place them in a brown paper bag with an apple or tomato overnight to accelerate the ripening process.

13. The Latin name for a banana is “musa sapientum,“ which means “fruit of the wise.“

14. Bananas contain a wide range of nutrients, including dietary fiber, vitamin C, potassium, vitamin B6, essential amino acids, iron, manganese, magnesium, folate, vitamin A, protein, and various antioxidants. All of these make bananas one of the most nutritious and delicious foods you can add to your diet.

15. When buying bananas, like other fruits, look out for any spots on the skin. You can purchase them underripe, and they will ripen at home. Never store bananas in the refrigerator, as they turn black at low temperatures.

16. Wild bananas are filled with seeds and barely edible. Bananas cultivated for consumption are seedless.

17. A thief in Mumbai had to eat 48 bananas to pass a gold chain he had swallowed during his arrest.