All about bananas
The world's favorite fruit is a berry, grows on a giant herb, and is slightly radioactive.
Surprising facts
BerryBotanically, a banana is a berry. A strawberry isn't.
HerbThe "tree" is really the world's largest herbaceous plant. Its trunk is tightly rolled leaves.
~100 billionBananas eaten worldwide every year.
Potassium-40They carry a trace of naturally radioactive potassium. Harmless, but famous.
Ripeness at a glance
Green
Breaking
Yellow
Speckled
Brown
Green is starchy and firm. Speckled is sweetest for eating. Brown is perfect for banana bread.
Nutrition (one medium banana)
| Nutrient | Amount |
|---|---|
| Calories | ~105 |
| Carbohydrates | 27 g |
| Fiber | 3 g |
| Potassium | ~420 mg |
| Vitamin B6 | ~25% daily value |
Why they all taste the same
Nearly every banana in a supermarket is a Cavendish, and every Cavendish is a clone grown from cuttings. It replaced the Gros Michel in the 1950s after Panama disease wiped that variety out. Today a new strain of the same fungus threatens the Cavendish too.