Banana

Also known asMusa · Pisang · 香蕉

Name: Banana (Musa spp.). The starchy cooking varieties sold as plantains are the same genus, not a separate fruit, and account for the large majority of banana cultivation worldwide; the yellow dessert banana most familiar outside the tropics is usually the Cavendish variety.

Description

Bananas are the domesticated fruit of the genus Musa, thought to have first been cultivated in New Guinea at least 6,500 years ago before spreading through Asia, reaching Africa roughly 2,000 years ago, and eventually crossing the Atlantic with early European voyages to Hispaniola and beyond. Nearly all bananas today are grown and eaten in the tropics, where they remain a staple food crop.

Dessert bananas are usually eaten fresh once ripe, while plantains are starchier and typically boiled, fried, or ground into flour. Beyond the fruit itself, banana leaves are used across many cuisines as natural wrappers for cooking and storing food, and the plant's fibrous trunk has long been woven into textiles, rope, and paper in parts of Asia.

Main nutrition value

Per 100g, raw banana:

Bananas are best known for potassium — around 326mg per 100g — alongside a strong dose of vitamin B-6 and manganese, plus a mix of quickly digested sugars and starch that shifts toward sugar as the fruit ripens.

How best to be consumed

Bananas are almost always eaten raw once ripe, since ripening converts much of the fruit's starch into simple sugars and softens its texture. Less ripe, greener bananas contain more resistant starch, which digests more slowly and is sometimes preferred for its gentler effect on blood sugar; very ripe, spotted bananas are sweeter and work well in baking.

Overconsumption could cause…

Because ripe bananas lean toward the sugary end for a fruit, eating several in a day can add up in carbohydrate for people watching blood sugar. Bananas are also fairly high in potassium, which is usually a benefit but can be a concern in large amounts for people with impaired kidney function who are advised to limit potassium intake. Ordinary servings by people without those conditions pose no particular risk.

GroupsTropical FruitsBanana family (Musaceae)Low fatLow sodiumFresh

Made intoDried Banana

Related foodsPlantainSugar AppleJackfruitSapodilla / ChikooPassion FruitCustard Apple

U.S. Department of Agriculture, FoodData Central — Bananas, ripe and slightly ripe, raw (FDC ID 1105314), 100g portion: https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/food-details/1105314/nutrients Encyclopaedia Britannica — banana: https://www.britannica.com/plant/banana-plant