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Legend has it that a long time ago, in the Philippines,
there was a beautiful girl named Raya who had the gift
of communicating with the spirits of the forest. She
fell in love with a handsome ghost-prince, who took on
human form. Together, they had a child. However, the
ghost-prince knew that eventually he would have to
return to the spirit world. His broken heart was buried
in the forest and from it sprang a tree, bearing flowers
in the shape of his heart. The fruits looked like hands
reaching out for his beloved Raya.
There are many legends and customs surrounding the
banana tree. The banana plant has been regarded by
the Hindus as a symbol of fertility and prosperity since
ancient times. Today, Hindus often adorn the doorsteps
of a newlywed couple’Äôs house with banana leaves and
fruits. It is said that Malay women bathe in a brew of
banana leaves for 15 days after childbirth. A banana
plant is often placed in the corner of a rice field as a
protective charm. Early Hawaiians used banana leaves
as truce flags in wars.
What’Äôs really bananas? The banana tree is an herb.
The banana tree is the biggest herb’Äîreaching a height
of 20 to 25 feet, with leaves as large as 9 feet.What
constitutes an herb? According to the dictionary, an
herb is ’Äúa seed-producing annual, biennial, or perennial
that does not develop persistent woody tissue but dies
down at the end of a growing season.’Äù But wait: there’Äôs
more! The banana fruit is technically a false berry, and
the black part that sometimes remains on the end of the
banana is a part of the flower.
Bananas come from the
Musa
plant family, native to
Southwest Asia. Bananas are believed to have been first
introduced into Europe in the tenth century A.D. and
brought to the South American coast by the Portuguese
in the early 1500s. From Eastern Indonesia they easily
made the transition into Hawaii.
First cultivated some 7,000 years ago, the plant
grows in tropical climates and can render up to 88
pounds or some 300 fruits per year without fertilization.
This prolific plant will continuously sprout a leader
stalk, produce flowers, and bear fruits’Äîand then repeat
the process by growing another stalk. Bananas and
plantains constitute the fourth-largest fruit crop in the
world, after grapes, citrus fruits, and apples, with a
world production estimated at 28 million tons per year.
That’Äôs a lot of bananas.
Edible bananas are classified into two main groups:
Sucrier
and
Gros Michel
. There are more than 400 varieties
of bananas, but most of the bananas we find locally are
the yellow Cavendish bananas. In the United States,
Florida most often produces the Dwarf Cavendish,
Apple, and Orinoco bananas, and the Macho plantain.
The Red and Lady Finger bananas are occasionally
grown in sheltered locations.
Here are some notable varieties:
1.
The
Dwarf Cavendish
, first known fromChina and
widely cultivated, has a medium-size fruit andmust
be handled and shipped with care due to its thin skin.
2.
The
Giant Cavendish
is of uncertain origin. The
fruits are larger than those of the Dwarf’Äîand not
as delicate.
3.
Silk
,
Silk Fig
, and
Manzana
(
apple
in Spanish) are
the most popular dessert banana of the tropics.
The plump bananas are astringent when unripe but
pleasantly apple-scented when fully ripe.
4. The
Orinoco
banana is also known as the Burro
(
donkey
in Spanish). This banana is shorter than the
Cavendish and has a lemony flavor.
5.
The
Red
(or Lal Kela) banana originated in India
and has a strong taste. The purplish-red peel
changes to orange-yellow, and the flesh is firm and
cream-colored.
6. The
Lady Finger
banana bears small, sweet fruit.
This variety is common in Latin America.
7.
The
Ice Cream
banana of Hawaii is bluish with a
silvery bloomwhen young and pale yellowwhen
ripe. The flesh is white and sweet.
8.
Plantains
come in many forms, some with pink,
red, or dark-brown leaf sheaths, some with colored
mid-ribs or spots on leaves or fruits. A popular
dwarf variety is the
Plantano enano
of Puerto Rico.
Mind
67
september
october 201 3