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BANANA
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BANANA , a gigantic herbaceous plant belonging to the genus Musa (nat. ord. Musaceae). It is perennial, sending up from an underground See also:root-stock an apparent See also:stem 15 or 20 ft. high, consisting of the closely-enveloped See also:leaf-sheaths, the corresponding See also:blades, each sometimes ro ft. in length, forming a spreading See also:crown. A true stem develops at the flowering See also:period; it grows up through the hollow See also:tube formed by the sheaths, emerges above and bears a large number of inconspicuous tubular See also:flowers closely crowded in the axils of large, often brightly-coloured, protecting bracts. The fruits See also:form dense clusters. The genus Musa contains about 40 See also:species, widely distributed throughout the tropics of the Old See also:World, and in some cases introduced into the New World. In many parts of the tropics they are as important to the inhabitants as are the See also:grain See also:plants to those living in cooler regions. They are most successfully cultivated in a hot, See also:damp, tropical See also:climate. The See also:northern limit.of their cultivation (usually Musa Cavendishii) is reached in See also:Florida, See also:south of 29° See also:lat., the See also:Canary Islands, See also:Egypt and south See also:Japan, the See also:southern limit in See also:Natal and south See also:Brazil. There has been considerable discussion as to whether the banana was growing in See also:America before the See also:discovery of the New World. It has been suggested that it may have been carried by ocean currents or in some earlier intercourse between the Old and New Worlds. The See also:evidence, however, of its existence in America at the See also:time of the discovery of the new See also:continent is not very definite. The unripe See also:fruit is See also:rich in See also:starch, which in ripening changes into See also:sugar. Themost generally used fruits are derived from Musa paradisiaca, of which an enormous number of varieties and forms exist in cultivation. The sub-species sapientum (formerly regarded as a distinct species M. sapientum) is the source of the fruits generally known in See also:England as bananas, and eaten raw, while the name See also:plantain is given to forms of the species itself M. paradisiaca, which require cooking. The species is probably a native of See also:India and southern See also:Asia. Other species which are used as fruits are M. acuminata in the See also:Malay See also:Archipelago, M. Fehi in See also:Tahiti, and M. Cavendishii, the so-called See also:Chinese banana, in cooler countries; the fruit of the last-named has a thinner rind and a delicate, fragrant flesh! The species, the fruits of which require cooking, are of much greater importance as an See also:article of See also:food. These often reach a considerable See also:size ; forms are known in See also:East See also:Africa which attain nearly 2 ft. in length with the thickness of a See also:man's See also:arm. A form of M. corniculata, from See also:Cochin See also:China and the Malay Archipelago, produces only a single fruit, which, however, affords an adequate See also:meal for three men. The hardly-ripe fruit is stewed whole or cut in slices and roasted or baked. Banana-meal is an important food-stuff; the fruit is peeled and cut in strips, which are then dried and pounded in a See also:mortar. In East Africa and elsewhere, an intoxicating drink is prepared from the fruit. The root-stock which bears the leaves is, just before the flowering period, soft and full of starch, and is some-times used as food, as in the See also:case of the Abyssinian species, M. Ensete. The leaves cut in strips are plaited to form mats and bags; they are also largely used for packing and the finer ones for cigarette papers. Several species yield a valuable fibre, the best of which is " See also:Manila See also:hemp " (q.v.) from M. textilis. The following is the See also:composition of the See also:flour, according to Hutchison: See also:water, 13%; proteid, 4%; See also:fat, o.5%; carbohydrates, 8o%; salts, 2.5%. It would require about eighty bananas of See also:average size to yield the amount of See also:energy required daily, and about See also:double that number to yield the necessary amount of proteid. Hence the undue abdominal development of those who live mainly on this article of See also:diet (Hutchison). In See also:recent years the cultivation of the banana in See also:Jamaica for the See also:American and also for the See also:English See also:market has been greatly See also:developed. Additional information and CommentsThere are no comments yet for this article.
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