Thursday, July 12, 2018

Yes, We Have No Bananas...!

Somehow over time, man has managed to take foods that were never meant to be eaten by men and fooled with their make-up enough to make them edible. Take the innocent banana, for instance.

Bananas



It seems like bananas were practically designed for us primates: They’re soft, seedless, tailor-made for the grip of our hand, and even come with a tab for easy opening. In reality, wild-type bananas are mostly inedible, and the plantains we eat today are completely different after genetic modifications. Wild-type bananas, which are tiny, tough, and filled with pit-like seeds, sometimes produce mutant variants without seeds.

Humans have been playing with this specific mutation for at least 6,500 years to produce all the varieties of seedless bananas available today. The banana’s design might even be too popular at this point; today’s mass-produced bananas are considered too genetically uniform, making them susceptible to diseases. Looks like we have some more work to do.

I have read somewhere that bananas were the number one eaten fruit in the world. I don't know if that's true or not, but I do know I like them... a LOT!

Coffee out on the patio again.

13 comments:

Mamahen said...

I didn't know this. I have started eating a banana nearly every morning, for probably a year now. I never get tired of them:))

HermitJim said...

Hey Mamahen...
I think that they are good for what ails ya! I like 'em!
Thanks for stopping this morning!

linda m said...

Bananas are my favorite snack to eat. And any type of food (e.g.: banana bread, cookies pudding, etc) made with bananas are eagerly eaten by me.

Momlady said...

I do like a good banana and they're a good source of potassium I'm told.

HermitJim said...

Hey Linda...
I know what you mean, especially about the banana bread.
Thanks for coming over today!


Hey Momlady...
Like I said, they are good for you.
Thanks for the visit this morning!

Rob said...

Genetic modifications? We've been eating bananas LONG before "they" discovered how to modify the genetic makeup in a laboratory.

I suspect the author was confusing the age old practice of selective breeding used to get bananas to where they are with the modern day lab work where they mix genetic material in a lab to produce something neither god nor Mother Nature would have ever produced.
That's a huge mistake in phrase choice.

Probably an honest mistake by the author...probably.

HermitJim said...

Hey Rob...
I'm sure that you are right about this point. Selectively breeding has been around for a long time when it comes to plants.
Thanks for your input this morning!

JO said...

I used to eat a banana everyday when I could get Chiquita's but now all I find are Delmonte and I find them bitter. Don't know if Chiquita went out of business or we just don't get them here

HermitJim said...

Hey Jo...
Probably a supplier thing. You might call the stores around you and ask them.
Thanks dear, for dropping by today!

Dizzy-Dick said...

I eat my share of them.

HermitJim said...

Hey Dizzy...
Seems to be a favorite fruit of folks around our age. Wonder why?
Thanks for coming over today!

Ashley King said...

I came across some trees growing primordial bananas in Thailand. I thought about taking one or two and sneaking them back into the US to try to grow some trees, but I decided that that was just the sort of thing that got the attention of the airport people with the rubber gloves and big fingers.

I remember reading a few years ago about how the bananas we eat today aren't the same ones that were popular decades ago, because those were wiped out by disease. And apparently they were better-tasting than what we have now. I hope we don't lose this one and have to settle for the next runner-up.

Mamahen said...

G'moring HJ. I pray all is well with you and that you are just having a lapse of memory, and forgot to post:))