ba·na·na bə-ˈna-nə
banana n: singular
1: an elongated usually tapering tropical fruit, especially that of M. paradisiaca, with soft pulpy flesh enclosed in a soft usually yellow rind.
2: any of several widely cultivated perennial herbs (genus Musa of the family Musaceae, the banana family) bearing bananas in compact pendent bunches
bananas adj slang: crazy - as in go bananas go crazy, go nuts , go insane, go bonkers, go mental , go barmy , go loopy, go round the bend , go frantic, go batty , go doolally , go round the twist, go nutty*
* Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002
Origins
The true origin of Bananas, one of the world's most popular fruits, is found in the region of Malaysia. By way of curious visitors, bananas traveled from there to India where they are mentioned in the Buddhist Pali writings dating back to the 6th century BCE.
Alexander the Great relished his first taste of the banana, an usual fruit he saw growing on tall trees during his 327BCE campaign in India. He is credited with bringing the banana from India to the Western world.
According to Chinese historian Yang Fu, China was tending plantations of bananas in 200 CE. These bananas grew only in the southern region of China and were considered exotic, rare fruits that never became popular with the Chinese masses until the 20th century.
Eventually, this tropical fruit reached Madagascar, an island off the southeastern coast of Africa. Beginning in 650 CE Islamic warriors traveled into Africa and were actively engaged in the slave trade. Along with the thriving business in slave trading, the Arabs were successful in trading ivory along with abundant crops of bananas. Through their numerous travels westward via the slave trade, bananas eventually reached Guinea, a small area along the West Coast of Africa.
By 1402 Portuguese sailors discovered the luscious tropical fruit in their travels to the African continent and populated the Canary Islands with their first banana plantations. Continuing the banana's travels westward, the rootstocks were packed onto a ship under the charge of Tomas de Berlanga, a Portuguese Franciscan monk who brought them to the Caribbean island of Santo Domingo from the Canary Islands in the year 1516.
It wasn't long before the banana became popular throughout the Caribbean as well as Central America. Arabian slave traders are credited with giving the banana its popular name.
The bananas that were growing in Africa as well as Southeast Asia were not the eight-to-twelve-inch giants that have become familiar in the U.S. supermarkets today. They were small, about as long as a man's finger. Ergo the name banan, Arabic for finger. The Spaniards, who saw a similarity to the plane tree that grows in Spain, gave the plantain its Spanish name, platano.
It was almost three hundred and fifty years later that Americans tasted the first bananas to arrive in their country. Wrapped in tin foil, bananas were sold for 10 cents each at a celebration held in Pennsylvania in 1876 to commemorate the hundredth anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.
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| Banana split first attested 1920 |
Instructions on how to eat a banana appeared in the Domestic Cyclopaedia of Practical Information and read as follows: "Bananas are eaten raw, either alone or cut in slices with sugar and cream, or wine and orange juice. They are also roasted, fried or boiled, and are made into fritters, preserves, and marmalades."
Top banana, second banana, etc. are from show business slang use of banana for "comedian, especially in a burlesque show."
Note: The banana plant is not a tree. It is actually the world's largest herb!
Health Benefits of Bananas
Bananas are good for your heart and nerves.
Bananas contain a high amount of potassium - an essential ingredient to keep your heart and nervous system in good shape. Potassium is essential for proper muscle contraction and hence plays an important role in muscle-influenced activities including: the normal rhythmic pumping of the heart, digestion, muscular movements, etc., Some studies have also linked low potassium intake to high blood pressure and increased risk of stroke. Most Americans don't get enough potassium in their diet (recommended dose is about 4 g per day) - blame it on our fast food culture. Including a banana (or two) in your diet everyday would take you a step closer towards getting your daily recommended dose of potassium.
Bananas are good for your kidneys and bones
Benefits to the kidneys and the bones are again due to the high potassium content of bananas. A normal intake of potassium suppresses calcium excretion in the urine and minimizes the risk of kidney stones. Also, for the same reason (suppressing of calcium excretion), it minimizes the loss of calcium from the body and thereby reduces the risk of osteoporosis.
Bananas can act as mood enhancers or mild sedatives
Bananas contain tryptophan (although it's not one of the major sources, a medium one still contains about 10.6 mg of tryptophan). Tryptophan is one of the 20 amino acids which are building blocks of proteins (btw, an incredible number of articles on the internet call tryptophan as a "mood-enhancing protein" and that is technically not correct). Tryptophan helps the body to produce serotonin - which has a calming effect on the brain (creates a stable mood) and acts as a mild sedative. It should be noted that the only way our body gets its dose of tryptophan is through our diet - it does not produce tryptophan naturally; bananas is one of the easiest ways to get it.
Bananas are good for your blood
Bananas are one of the highest sources of naturally available vitamin B6: Vitamin B6 plays an important role in converting tryptophan to serotonin (read #3 above), and also helps the body to make hemoglobin - a crucial ingredient of your blood. Vitamin B6 is also essential for antibody production and to maintain a healthy immune response. It also helps to convert carbohydrates to glucose and thereby maintains proper blood sugar levels. A medium banana can take care of 1/5th of your daily recommended intake of vitamin B6 and is one of the easiest (and cheapest) ways to increase your dietary intake of the vitamin.
Nutritional Benefits of Bananas
Because of their impressive potassium content, bananas are highly recommended by doctors for patients whose potassium is low. One large banana, about 9 inches in length, packs 602 mg of potassium and only carries 140 calories. That same large banana even has 2 grams of protein and 4 grams of fiber. No wonder the banana was considered an important food to boost the health of malnourished children! Those reducing sodium in their diets can't go wrong with a banana with its mere 2 mgs of sodium. For the carbohydrate counters there are 36 grams of carbs in a large banana.
Vitamins and minerals are abundant in the banana, offering 123 I.U. of vitamin A for the large size. A full range of B vitamins are present with .07 mg of Thiamine, .15 mg of Riboflavin, .82 mg Niacin, .88 mg vitamin B6 and 29 mcg of Folic Acid. There are even 13.8 mg of vitamin C. On the mineral scale Calcium counts in at 9.2 mg, Magnesium 44.1 mg, with trace amounts of iron and zinc.
Bananas are an excellent source of dietary fiber: A single serving (one medium-sized banana) contains 16% of the daily recommended dietary fiber intake for a normal adult - that's substantial for a single serving of any food. Fiber improves laxation (smooth bowel movements). Fiber-rich diets have also been linked to lower risk of coronary heart disease and of type 2 diabetes.
A banana has a glycemic index of 52 and 24 grams of available carbohydrate. This gives a glycemic load of 12. In comparison, an apple having a glycemic index of 38 and 15 grams of available carbohydrate has a glycemic load of 6 … Although an apple may be a little better choice for a snack, eating a banana isn't all that bad either because foods with glycemic loads in the low teens and below are the ones that should be selected as part of a balanced diet. Despite being erroneously called "fattening" and too high in sugar, a small banana only contains about 100 calories, which is not much more than a medium apple. Nor should it raise your blood glucose level too high.
Putting all of the nutritional figures together clearly shows the banana is among the healthiest of fruits. The plantain, when cooked, rates slightly higher on the nutritional scale in vitamins and minerals but similar to the banana in protein and fiber content.
Nutrition Chart for Bananas
Serving size = 1 medium sufficiently ripe banana [about 7″ long and 126 grams (0.28 pounds) in weight]
Total Fat = 0 g; Cholesterol = 0 g; Calories = 110
Potassium = 400 mg (10% of daily recommended value)
Dietary Fiber = 4 g (16% of daily recommended value)
Sugar = 14.8 g; Protein = 1 g (2% of daily recommended value)
Vitamin C = 16% of daily recommended value
Vitamin B6 = 20% of daily recommended value
Data source : USDA National Nutrient Database
TEMPORARY COLLECTION and HOLDING AREA for Bananas IMAGES
TEMPORARY COLLECTION and HOLDING AREA for Bananas COPY
Bunnery Tie-In for Bananas
Bunnery Natural Foods for Healthy Lifestyles
Four decades ago, in a log cabin near Yellowstone, The Bunnery started baking natural foods to sustain the outdoorsman drawn to the thrills and challenges of life in the West.
Our home of Jackson, Wyoming, a paradise for skiers, bikers, hikers and fly fishers, is a place that demands you be at your physical best.
Whether you are climbing a mountain, battling white water on the Snake River, or just braving an avalanche of e-mail, our delicious cereals, rich in fiber, iron and antioxidants, give you the strength and satisfaction you need to power through the challenges of your day.
Our team hopes you enjoy the Best from the West -- locally produced natural foods from Jackson Hole.
