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Banana History Nutritional facts - Health facts Growing of the banana Banana transportation The different brands they import The packaging |
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The
banana historyThe banana is mentioned for the first time in history in buddhist texts 600 years BC. Alexander the Great discovers the taste of the banana in the Indian valleys in 327 BC . The existence of an organized banana plantation could be found in China back in the year 200 AD. In 650 AD, Islamic conquerors brought the banana back to Palestine. The Arabic merchants finally spread the bananas all over Africa.
Only in 1502 the Portuguese start the first banana plantation
in the Caribbean and in central America.
Nutritional factsThe banana is nourishing, does not contain fat, and can be eaten at every hour of the day because of its digestive properties. The banana holds 23% of hydrocarbonate for 0,2% of fat. The cholesterol level is 0,00%; a 100 grams of banana has as low calories as a 100 grams of yoghurt with fruit.
The banana is full of proteins , and the sugar provided gives a lot of energy to those practising sports requiring endurance. Moreover, it contains magnesium, selenium, iron, a lot of vitamines, and is recommended for salt-free diets because of its low contents in sodium chloridium.
Health facts
For a quick replacement of the sinking energy level after a day's hard work, there is no better snack than a banana, according to a latest research findings obtained from Internet said.
Containing three natural sugars-sucrose, fructose and glucose-combined with fibre, a banana gives an instant, sustained and substantial boost of energy.
The research findings said, "one banana a day keeps the doctor away".
Research has proven that just two bananas provide enough energy for a strenuous 90-minute workout. No wonder the banana is the number one fruit with the world's leading athletes. But energy isn't the only way a banana can help us keep fit. It can also help overcome or prevent a substantial number of illnesses and conditions making it a must to add to our daily diet.
According to the recent survey among people suffering from depression, many felt much better after eating a banana. This is because bananas contain tryptophan, a type of protein that the body converts into serotonin known to make you relax, improve your mood and generally make you feel happier, the research findings said.
High in iron, bananas can stimulate the production of hemoglobin in blood and so helps in the case of anemia. The findings said this unique tropical fruit is extremely high in potassium yet low in salt making it the perfect way to beat high blood pressure.
So, the US Food and Drug Administration has just allowed the banana industry to make official claims for the fruit's ability to reduce the risk of blood pressure and stroke.
The research has shown 200 students at a Twickenham (middlesex) school were helped through their examinations this year by eating bananas at breakfast, break and lunch in a bid to boost their brainpower. It shows that the potassium packed fruit can assist learning by making pupils more alert.
High in fiber, including bananas in the diet can help restore normal bowel action, helping to overcome the problem without resorting to laxatives, the research said.
He said before reaching for the insect bite cream, try rubbing the affected area with the inside of a banana skin. Many people find it amazingly successful at reducing swelling and irritation.
Bananas are high in vitamin-B that helps calm the nervous system.
The banana is used as the dietary food against intestinal disorder because of its soft texture and smoothness. It is the only raw fruit that can be eaten without distress in over chronicler cases. It also neutralises over acidity and reduces irritation by coating the lining of the stomach.
Many other cultures see bananas as a cooling fruit that can lower both the physical and emotional temperature of expectant mothers. In Thailand, baby is born with a cool temperature.
Research findings have said bananas can help seasonal affective disorder (SAD): Bananas can help SAD sufferers because they contain the natural mood enhancer, tryptophan. Bananas can also help people trying to give up smoking. The B6, B12 they contain, as well as the potassium and magnesium found in them, help the body recover from the effects of nicotine withdrawal.
Potassium is a vital mineral, which helps normalise the heartbeat, sends oxygen to the brain and regulates your body's water balance. When we are stressed, our metabolic rate rises, there by reducing our potassium level. These can be rebalance with the help of a high potassium banana snack, the research findings said.
According to research in the New England Journal of Medicine eating bananas as part of a regular diet can cut the risk of death by strokes by as much as 40 percent.
The growing of
the BananaThe banana plant is ...not a tree, but a giant herb of the same family as lilies, orchids and palms. There are about 400 varieties of bananas. The rhizome is planted and gives a first shoot 3 or 4 weeks later. After 9 to 10 months the inflorescence from the foliated circlet has a diameter that can be as large as 7 meters. Three days after that, a bud hangs on the plant. On the fifth day, the bud turns red and starts opening. On the seventh day the leafs who covered it are falling down and finally two days later you can already see the first banana hands.The trunk of a banana plant is made of sheaths of overlapping leaves, tightly wrapped around each other like stalks in a celery bunch.
The word banana is derivated from the Arabic meaning 'finger'.
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Each banana stem consists of 10 to 14 hands each of them carrying from 18 to 20 bananas. The harvest starts when the banana is still green. Bananas for domestic consumption are cut green. Then the race starts against the clock. From the harvest through the delivery to the shop resailer, there are only 20 days left. The hands are removed, washed, cut in smaller pieces called clusters, packed in hygienical carton boxes, each of those boxes weighing 18 kg net (40 lb). |
Transportation
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The packagingA long time ago bananas were imported in stems. Then from Rotterdam to Brussels, by train. Each wagon could carry from 600 to 700 stems. Afterwards, they had to be stocked in temperated rooms until they came to maturation.
Today, bananas are imported in boxes, wich enables a more easy manipulation and a more convenient process of transportation.
Just like in the past, they are still stocked in hermetical ripening rooms for 6 to 8 days at a temperature of 14,5°C (60°F). This temperature allows a homogeneous ripening of the bananas of a different size.
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