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History, curiosity, useful information.
Everything you need to know.
Did you every know...
- If a green banana is placed next to a ripe banana, it will ripen more quickly.
- If you want to ripen bananas even more quickly, wrap them in a wet paper towel and place them into a brown paper sack.
- Unpeeled bananas will last longer if stored in the refrigerator in a sealed jar.
- If you slice bananas with a sterling silver knife they will not darken as fast.
- The new size of miniature bananas now appearing in supermarkets has more taste than many of the larger ones.
- Americans consume 25 pounds of bananas per person annually.
- Bananas contain less water than most other fruits.
- Bananas are a type of berry from a tree classified as an herb tree which can grow up to 30 feet high.
- Bananas got their name from the Arab word for finger, "banan.".
- A bunch of bananas is called a hand.
- The banana market is controlled by five large corporations - Chiquita (25%), Dole (25%), Del Monte (15%), Noboa (11%) and Fyffes (8%).
- Most bananas are grown on huge plantations, controlled by these corporate giants. The remaining banana production for export comes from small banana producers.
- Bananas have no fat, cholesterol or sodium.
- In Eastern Africa you can buy banana beer. This beer is brewed from bananas.
- In 2001, there were more than 300 banana-related accidents in Britain, most involving people slipping on skins.
- Banana plants are the largest plants on earth without a woody stem. They are actually giant herbs of the same family as lilies, orchids and palms.
- There are more than 500 varieties of banana in the world.
- The inside of a banana peel can be used as shoe polish.
- Banana plants are not trees, they are a giant herb.
Top banana producing nations - 2007
(in million metric tons)
- India 21.77
- China 8.04
- Philippines 7.48
- Brazil 7.10
- Ecuador 6.00
- Indonesia 5.46
- Tanzania 3.50
- Costa Rica 2.08
- Thailand 2.00
- Mexico 1.96
- Burundi 1.60
- Guatemala 1.57
- Vietnam 1.36
- Kenya 1.19
- Bangladesh 1.00
- Honduras 0.91
- Egypt 0.88
- Papua New Guinea 0.87
- Cameroon 0.86
- Uganda 0.62
World total 72.5
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
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