Interesting Banana Scientific Facts

Here are some informative scientific facts about the Bananas. Botanically a berry, bananas are of thousands of type. There are different species of bananas, some are domesticated while others are wild and ornamental plants.The oldest records of edible bananas come from India (600 B.C.)

Taxonomy of Banana

1. Cellular Organism → Eukaryota → Viridiplantae → Streptophyta → Streptophytina → Embryophyta → Tracheophyta → Euphyllophyta → Spermatophyta → Magnoliophyta → Liliopsida → commelinids → Zingiberales → Musaceae → Musa → Eumusa → Acuminata → Balbisiana
2. The genus Musa was created by Carl LThe name may be derived from Antonius Musa, physician to Emperor Augustus or Linnaeus may have adapted the Arabic word for banana, mauz.
3. The old biological name Musa sapientum = "Muse of the wise" arose because of homophony in Latin with the classical Muses.innaeus in 1753.
4. Almost all modern edible parthenocarpic (seedless) bananas come from two wild species – Musa acuminata and Musa balbisiana.
5. The scientific names of most cultivated bananas are Musa acuminata, Musa balbisiana, and Musa × paradisiaca for the hybrid Musa acuminata × M. balbisiana, depending on their genomic constitution.
6. The old scientific name Musa sapientum is no longer used.
7. Musa species are native to tropical Indomalaya and Australia, and are likely to have been first domesticated in Papua New Guinea.
8. Musa cultivars with firmer, starchier fruit are called "plantains"
9. The genus Musa like the scarlet banana (Musa coccinea), pink banana (Musa velutina) and the Fe'i bananas. It can also refer to members of the genus Ensete, like the snow banana (Ensete glaucum) and the economically important false banana (Ensete ventricosum). Both genera are classified under the banana family, Musaceae.

Important Banana Species 

For domestication/cultivation

• Musa acuminata (wild and cultivated bananas)
• Musa balbisiana (wild banana)
• Musa x paradisiaca (plantains)

Wild non-edible/ornamental banana plants

• Musa banksii (f'ai taemanu)
• Musa basjoo (Japanese fiber banana)
• Musa formosana 
• Musa itinerans 
• Musa nagensium 
• Musa rosacea 
• Musa schizocarpa 
• Musa tonkinensis 
• Musa yunnanensis

Other Interesting Scientific Facts of Banana

1. Banana is botanically a berry.
2. The word banana is thought to be of West African origin, possibly from the Wolof word banana, and passed into English via Spanish or Portuguese.
3. The Banana plant is the largest herbaceous flowering plant
4. The banana fruit is variable in size, color, and firmness, but is usually elongated and curved, with soft flesh rich in starch covered with a rind.
5. Banana colors may be green, yellow, red, purple, or brown when ripe.
6. The plant has 8 - 12 leaves that are up to 9 ft long and 2 ft wide.
7. Each pseudostem normally produces a single inflorescence, also known as the "banana heart".
8. Individual banana fruits (commonly known as a banana or "finger") average 125 grams (0.276 lb), of which approximately 75% is water and 25% dry matter (nutrient table, lower right).
9. Bananas are naturally slightly radioactive more so than most other fruits, because of their potassium content and the small amounts of the isotope potassium-40 found in naturally occurring potassium.
10. The banana equivalent dose of radiation is sometimes used in nuclear communication to compare radiation levels and exposures
11. Edible bananas originated in the Indo-Malaysian region reaching northern Australia.
12. The oldest records of edible bananas come from India (600 B.C.)
13. It is believed that bananas were first introduced to Europe in the 10th century A.D.
14. In the early 1500s, Portuguese mariners transported the plant from the West African coast to South America.
15. Today, Musa spp. are grown in every humid tropical region and constitute the fourth largest fruit crop of the world, following the grape, citrus fruits, and the apple.
16. Taken together, bananas and plantains are one of most important staple food in developing countries of sub-Saharan Africa, South and Central America and much of Asia (with consumption up to 400 kg per person per year) and a major cash crop worldwide.
17. The male bud can be eaten as a vegetable.
18. The leaves are used for cooking and wrapping food, thatching, sheltering of goods and variety of other purposes.
19. Fibers extracted from dried petioles and pseudostems are used in clothing and paper manufacture.