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What does banana mean in Arabic. Bananamania

Answer from HEILA[guru]
India is considered the birthplace of the banana. It was from there that these sweet fruits spread throughout the tropical zone. Banana means finger in Arabic.
In fact, much of what you have heard about bananas is not true. They don't grow on palm trees: the banana is a grass. Moreover, this grass grows by 15 meters, or even more. Pollinated at night and exclusively by bats. The banana fruit is a berry. These berries are transported on special banana carriers.
What is made from bananas in their homeland? Well, for example, beer, which reaches a fortress of 28 degrees. Wild bananas have seeds. In some countries, banana grass tubers are considered more palatable than the fruit. In the same countries, banana skins are smoked - banarets are stronger than the blackest cigars. In the Philippines, bananas are used to make cardboard.
The color of bananas is simply amazingly diverse, in warm countries you can find not only yellow, but also green, brown, orange, pink, red and even purple fruits.
To date, there are about 400 varieties.
There are two classifications of bananas - according to their purpose and scientific. According to the first bananas are divided into table, dessert and vegetable. Table bananas of the Cavendish, Gros Michel, and Lakatan varietal groups make up the bulk of world banana exports. That's what we eat.
Red bananas differ from traditional table bananas in the color of their skins, which can be red, maroon, and reddish brown. In a number of varieties, the flesh has a pink color, their fruits are thicker and rounded, and the taste is similar to the taste of a fruit banana. Apple, baby, sugar, ladies bananas are different varieties of mini bananas. Their fruits reach a length of 8 - 12 centimeters. They rarely reach us, because they are poorly stored.
Vegetable bananas of the Planteyn varietal group are eaten mainly after cooking and become not yellow, but black when ripe. Outwardly, they differ from traditional table bananas in larger sizes.
In Russia, up to 20 varieties are sold.
Now for some botany. The fact that a banana is a perennial herb, you have already learned. However, not everyone knows that the stem of this grass is underground and is a rhizome, the mass of which can reach 10 kg! What is on the surface and is usually called a stem or trunk are leaves wrapped one around the other. Such a false trunk reaches a height of 10-15 m and 60 cm in diameter. At the top of the false trunk is a nondescript inflorescence, from which the fruits develop. The fruits on the plant appear after 6-10 months. Such a stem lives only one year, because after the fruit ripens, it dies off.
Now about culinary addictions. If for us bananas are more like a dessert, then for the inhabitants of the tropics it is a “second bread” or a “strategic” product that successfully replaces side dishes, potatoes, bread and even meat. So, in Cuba, banana-fries are considered a popular dish, in Australia, bananas are cut lengthwise into two halves, rolled in flour and breadcrumbs, sprinkled with salt and pepper and fried in boiling fat. Africans add bananas to all dishes - scrambled eggs, soup, porridge, and even served as a side dish to fish. But most of the banana harvest on the Black Continent is used to make fruit beer. Europeans are not used to cooking bananas, but they treat these fruits with great respect.
Such a universal love for bananas is not accidental, because it is not only a tasty and quite satisfying product, but also a wonderful source of vitamins and minerals, especially potassium.
Choosing bananas is very simple - for urgent use, you need to buy yellow fruits with a smooth matte skin. However, even completely green fruits can easily ripen at your place, and this will not affect the taste and the presence of vitamins in purchased bananas. Even in warm countries, the fruits are harvested green.

Bananas are very popular since ancient times. Today they can be seen for sale all over the world, and not just in the places of their direct growth.

What makes bananas so attractive? Bananas are easy to peel They are handy to have on hand when you need a snack. This fruit is classified as hypoallergenic, which allows it to be eaten even by babies. Bananas are a good source of vitamin C, fiber, and potassium.

It is believed that the birthplace of bananas the jungle of Asia. The stem of a banana is not wooden, so a wind of more than 25 m/s can easily destroy an entire banana plantation in a minute. That is why every plant has a backup. Bananas are harvested 8-10 weeks after they appear on the branches. They are harvested green and sent to ripen in special factories, after which they get on store shelves.

What is "banana"?

Banana is a berry, and the plant itself is grass, it can grow up to 10 meters in height and up to 40 cm in width. But the stem is hollow. The banana has over 500 varieties and grows in various parts of the world. These plants belong to the same botanical family as lilies and orchids. But simply put, as you know from the school biology course, a banana is a grass.

The name "banana" was derived from the Arabic word "banan", which means finger. A total of 16.5 million bananas are grown in India each year and India is the leading banana producer compared to the rest of the world.

Bananas are loaded with nutrients. Banana contains a large amount of vitamins: A, C and E, as well as, riboflavin, thiamin, niacin, folic acid, vitamin B12 and many other minerals like iron, calcium, potassium, magnesium, phosphorus, copper, zinc, fluorine some of the others. nutrients. However, many scientists believe that the banana as a plant may soon become extinct due to environmental changes.

If you bought bananas and don't want their peel to turn black Store fruits at room temperature. If the banana needs to ripen a little, put it in the refrigerator, while the peel will turn black, but the fruit itself will become sweeter. You can also help a banana ripen at room temperature by placing the banana in a brown paper bag overnight. If you put already ripened bananas in the same bag, the process will speed up. Bananas can be frozen by placing in vacuum bags or containers, after removing the peel.

Fully green or green-tipped bananas are best suited for cooking in general and, in particular, for frying. A banana ripens best outside the plant that gave it birth, so don't be afraid to buy green bananas. If you leave a banana to ripen on a branch of a plant, then the peel will crack and the fruit will become tasteless, which is why bananas are harvested while still green.

Propagate bananas not by seeds, since the latter are sterile, but by shoots from rhizomes. Bananas need a tropical climate, plenty of sun and water, and nutrient-rich soil to grow and reproduce. In addition to the pulp itself, banana peel is also used. It is a good fertilizer for rose bushes. It is enough just to dig a hole near the rose bush and place a banana peel there.

Alexander the Great in 327 BC ate a banana in India in recognition of the new faith.

A city in northern Thailand has an annual festival called the Egg Banana Festival after the harvest. On this day, the main temple in the city is decorated with green bananas or red banana flowers, and the residents bring banana offerings to the temple.

One of the predators of the canine family, the Maned Wolf, treats bananas quite adequately and eats them with pleasure.

In Egypt, the cultivation of bananas was taken very seriously and even detailed "instructions" for banana growing were left on the walls.

In most countries, bananas are served as a side dish for meat or fish and are willingly cooked.

Alcoholic drinks are made from bananas, and their strength reaches 28 degrees.

Bananas have seeds, but contrary to all the laws of nature, bananas cannot reproduce by seeds - they are sterile, and the main method of banana propagation is shoots from rhizomes.

Bananas are harvested unripe, because, ripening in artificial conditions, they become much more useful than they would have been harvested already ripe. In addition, it is difficult to catch the moment when bananas are exactly ripe, and overripe ones immediately burst and become tasteless.

Banana bushes are always tied up, because a strong gusty wind can blow away the entire plantation in a minute, because the stems themselves have no support.

There are a huge number of different varieties of bananas in the world, among them are red, green, black, golden. And those bananas that we eat, by the standards of the inhabitants of other countries, do not have good taste and are generally feed for livestock.

Banana skins can be used as an excellent fertilizer for rose bushes.

Bananas are very high in calories, and dried bananas are five times more caloric than fresh bananas. Theoretically, you can live on bananas all your life without dying of hunger and lack of vitamins.

Banana is the most heart-healthy food because bananas contain a lot of potassium, which helps to strengthen the heart muscle and normalize blood pressure.

In India, thousands of bananas are simply crushed to launch a single ship.

In the world, the banana industry is so developed that the entire annual harvest is enough to feed fifteen kilograms of all people on the planet, including babies.

Once in England, a girl died after eating 4 bananas. It was in 1946, after the war, these 4 bananas were among the first batch of bananas brought to England after a long break.

The Latin name for banana is "musa sapientum", which can be translated as "fruit of the sage".

Bananas are radioactive because they contain a relatively large amount of potassium, including the radioactive isotope potassium-40.

The vast majority of commercial banana bushes (and these are the bushes) are clones of each other and originated from a single plant in South Asia. This makes them extremely sensitive to environmental conditions and prone to extinction.

Now the most popular banana variety is Cavendish, and before that its place was occupied by Gros Michel, whose plants were also actually clones of each other and supplied the world with bananas until the middle of the 20th century. The Gros Michel fruit was larger than the Cavendish, lasted longer and tolerated transportation better. In the middle of the last century, the Gros Michel variety almost completely disappeared from the face of the Earth due to a fungus called "Panama disease" that affected plants of this particular species. Now a similar threat looms over Cavendish bananas.

There are more than a thousand varieties of bananas in the world, but almost all of them are unpleasant in taste. Of the sweet, edible and disease-resistant bananas, Rajapuri, Mysore (sweet and sour), Ice cream, Robusta and Lady Finger are known.

Bananas of the Goldfinger variety do not taste like "classic" bananas, they are more like apples. This is a hybrid bred by Philip Rove, which is grown in small quantities in Australia.

Americans eat bananas the most of all fruits. There are almost 12 kilograms of bananas per person in the US every year, which is more than the consumption of apples and oranges combined.

Which country eats the most bananas? In Uganda, where each resident eats more than 220 kilograms of bananas a year, that is, bananas have to be eaten on the first, second and third.

The banana tree is not a tree - it's more of a bush, or more accurately, a grass. The root structure comes to the surface in a dense stem, which is why the banana is called a tree-like plant. In addition, the banana plant is a perennial, and also the largest such plant in the world.

Want to be always in a good mood - eat bananas. They contain a special amino acid tryptophan, as well as vitamin B6, with the help of which the body produces serotonin, a natural antidepressant.

Bananas are one of the healthiest sources of nutrients. They have almost no fat, very few calories, and are high in vitamin B6, fiber, and potassium.

Bananas also contain phosphorus, magnesium, calcium, iron, zinc, copper and selenium. I am silent about vitamins A, B1, B2, C, E, K and others - they are also present in bananas. According to experts, eating bananas reduces the risk of heart disease and cancer.

The expression "banana republic" refers to small states ruled by petty tyrants who support banana companies (surprisingly!) in large quantities for pennies.

A bunch of bananas is called a "brush", and a single banana is called a "finger". In general, the modern word "banana" in Arabic means exactly "finger".

In Uganda, bananas are used to make beer. By the way, very good, fruit beer contains almost 28% alcohol.

Bananas are not only yellow, but also red. Reds have a more tender flesh, and they do not tolerate transportation. Seychelles MAO is the only place in the world where golden, red and black bananas grow. Locals, of course, eat them: this is a side dish that is served with lobsters and shellfish.

By the way, the way they are collected also deserves attention. This requires two people. One knocks down a bunch of bananas from the stalk with a long pole, and the second is already at the bottom, substituting his back. Bananas fall right on top of him and he carries them to the warehouse. The Human Rights Commission was horrified.

The most interesting application for bananas was found in India. Who hasn't had to slip or even fall by stepping on a banana peel! So, in India, this unpleasant property of banana skins is still used to this day in order to make it easier to launch ships. To do this, the trigger plane (slip) is simply smeared with crushed bananas. It takes about 20,000 bananas to launch one medium-displacement ship.

Banana related records

The Estonian participant Mait Lepik won the world's first competition. He managed to swallow 10 bananas in 3 minutes. But we do not recommend repeating his feat, because he ate them right with the peel, and this can be very dangerous for health.

The world record for eating bananas is 81 bananas per hour, which is 1.35 bananas per minute and 0.0225 bananas per second.

Bananas grow in clusters of 15-20 pieces in a bunch, and in total there are up to 300 bananas on a bush.

100,000,000,000 bananas are eaten annually in the world, which makes this product the fourth largest among all agricultural crops, behind only wheat, rice and corn.

In Latin, the banana is called "musa sapientum", which means "fruit of the wise man". India is considered the birthplace of the banana, and the word "banana" itself is of Creole origin and simply means "yum-yum". It was from there that these sweet fruits spread throughout the tropical zone. Banana means finger in Arabic. In fact, much of what you have heard about bananas is not true. They do not grow on palm trees: the banana is a herb that does not have a hard stem. The stalk of banana grass sometimes reaches 10 meters in height and above, and 40 centimeters in diameter. As a rule, 300 fruits with a total weight of 500 kg hang on one such stalk.

Fruits on a banana plant appear after 6-10 months. Its stem lives only one year, because. after fruit ripening, it dies off.

Pollinated at night and exclusively by bats. The banana fruit is a berry. These berries are transported on special banana carriers. Wild bananas have seeds. In some countries, banana grass tubers are considered more palatable than the fruit. In the same countries, banana skins are smoked - banarets are stronger than the blackest cigars. In the Philippines, bananas are used to make cardboard.

Bananas contain more vitamin B6 than other fruits. This vitamin is known to be responsible for a good mood. The fruit pulp contains a lot of sucrose, vitamins C, B1, B2, PP, E, carotene, enzymes, microelements (especially potassium); there are organic acids (predominantly malic), fiber, essential oil, starch. If you compare them to apples, they have 4 times the protein, 2 times the carbohydrates, 3 times the phosphorus, 5 times the vitamin A and iron, and twice the other vitamins and minerals.

If for us bananas are more like a dessert, then for the inhabitants of the tropics it is a “second bread” or a “strategic” product that successfully replaces side dishes, potatoes, bread and even meat. So, in Cuba, banana-fries are considered a popular dish, in Australia, bananas are cut lengthwise into two halves, rolled in flour and breadcrumbs, sprinkled with salt and pepper and fried in boiling fat. Africans add bananas to all dishes - scrambled eggs, soup, porridge, and even served as a side dish to fish. But most of the banana harvest on the Black Continent is used to make fruit beer.

Choosing bananas is very simple - for urgent use, you need to buy yellow fruits with a smooth matte skin. However, even completely green fruits can easily ripen at your place, and this will not affect the taste and the presence of vitamins in purchased bananas. Even in warm countries, the fruits are harvested green. After all, bananas ripening on a tree do not gain the necessary taste and aroma, but rather lose them, the peel of the fruit cracks and the pulp is easily affected by diseases, so these fruits are harvested unripe.

Do not store purchased bananas in the refrigerator. Like any tropical fruit, bananas lose their taste and aroma in the cold, it is best to store at room temperature. Peeled bananas must be eaten immediately, otherwise the flesh will oxidize, turn brown and lose vitamins.

If for about a week everything is in order with gas and temperature (when laying it, it should be 18 degrees and every day must go down by about a degree), then the berries turn out to be licking your fingers. And if it’s not normal, then they don’t work out ... True, those who ate this fruit ripened on their native branch say that the sensations are much richer. But what to do - you can not carry them mature.

Bananas are the only fruit that never, under any circumstances, give babies an allergic reaction. That is why bananas are a popular solid food for babies. In addition, they are useful when children have stomach ailments.

Bananas contain a lot of tyramine, a highly active toxic substance that resembles adrenaline in action. It can provoke an increase in blood pressure and blood sugar levels, overexcitation of the nervous system, lead to muscle hypertonicity and cause migraines. Bananas should not be carried away also because they contain a rather high percentage of xenobiotics - chemicals alien to the body that change the human hormonal background. Bananas are brought from the tropics green, and already on the spot they are processed for ripening with a special gas.

In women, it stimulates the excessive production of estrogen hormones, and in men - androgens. With a serious overdose, the health consequences can be the most unpleasant: premature puberty in children, menstrual irregularities in women. Well, in smaller doses - mood swings, neurosis, poor sleep. A person gets up in the morning tired, as if he had unloaded the wagons all night, and by the evening he literally falls down.

Fruits

Banana(ar. طَلْحٌ [ṭalkḥ]‎; lat. Musa) is a perennial herbaceous plant, the fruits of which are eaten. Mentioned in as one of the plants of paradise.

Acacia gum

In the Quran

Banana is mentioned in the verse al-Waqi'a(“Event”) in the context of describing the heavenly blessings prepared for believers: They will not hear idle talk and sinful speeches there, but only the words: “Peace, peace!” ۝ And those who are on the right side - (and) who are they who are on the right side? ۝ (They will dwell) among the lotus, devoid of thorns, ۝ and (among) bananas (whose fruits) are hung in rows,. Words used in the Quran talkḥ, which in modern Arabic means “gum acacia”, “paradise banana”. Ibn Kathir believes that the verse means "a tall thorny tree growing in the vicinity of the Hijaz" and cites the opinions of Muslim scholars theologians. Mujahid commented: “منضود - manḍud‎ are trees, the fruits of which grow in clusters. Allah mentions this to the Quraysh because they admired him and took refuge under the shade of this tree. Ibn ‘Abbas said: “These trees are similar to the gum acacia growing in the earthly world, but their fruits are sweeter than honey.” Abu Sa'id said: va-talḥ manḍud(ar. وطلح منضود ‎) are banana trees.” Ibn ‘Abbas, Abu Hurairah, al-Hasan, ‘Ikrimah, Qatada and others also considered.

banana fruit

Story

The first news about edible bananas appeared in Europe in the 3rd-4th centuries. BC e., perhaps thanks to the Phoenician merchants and navigators, who at that time freely traveled along the coast of Africa, to India and the Mediterranean countries. Approximately in 67 AD. e. Pliny the Elder in his writings mentioned this plant under the name "pala", which then entered the classical Greek language. Theophrastus recorded a story that some wise men liked to gather for conversations in the shade of a banana and from time to time gladly reinforced their strength with its fruits. Perhaps that is why the ancient Latin name of the plant Musa sapientium means nothing more than "banana of the wise."

In the Middle Ages, with the expansion of Islamic possessions during the reign of the righteous caliphs, the leading role in the spread of bananas in the countries of the Middle East, the African continent and southern Europe was played by Arab nomads, merchants and warriors. At the beginning of the XVI century. Spanish and Portuguese navigators brought bananas from the coast of West Africa to South America. At present, bananas are grown in all humid tropical regions and, in terms of total fruit harvest, are among the top five fruits in the world economy, along with grapes, citrus fruits, dates and apples.

Bananas have always been very popular in the Islamic world, and in those countries and places where they were not grown, they were always brought. Curious information about this is contained in the book Description of the Journey along the Turkish-Persian Border, which was written by Mehmed Khurshid, secretary of the Turkish commissioner Dervish Pasha, the representative of Turkey in the Mixed Border Commission, created in 1839 for the final establishment of the Turkish-Persian border. The author, who visited little-known areas that are part of the border zone between Ararat and the Persian Gulf, wrote about bananas as follows: “In Basra, lemons, oranges and a number of fruits called muses (bananas) grow and grow only in hot climates. You can't find fresh ones in Constantinople. The trunk of this tree of reed species is very moist and tender, but this reed grows up to one and a half kuladzhi (sazhens); its leaves are the same as the leaves of ordinary reeds, 3 kulaj long, 10 arshins wide and of an unusual appearance. In the dead of winter, they are not accepted, but in all other seasons, whenever they are planted, by the end of the year they will certainly bear fruit. They say that when you eat a banana, it takes on the taste of whatever fruit you think of at that time; but this is not true. I have also heard that its taste does not resemble any other taste.

Alexandre Dumas, in his “Great Culinary Dictionary”, which belongs to him, describing his trip to Tunisia, accompanied by Arab guides, and, among other things, mentions that: “ ... to my great surprise, I saw that my Arabs ate a few dates and one banana for dinner. I was ashamed that I had such a large dinner, while they ate very little» .

banana cakes

Usage

Banana, growing in the Muslim paradise, is a well-known plant that produces many appetizing, tasty fruits. The word "banana" in the modern world refers to many species and hybrids of the genus Musa (Banana) of the Musaceae family (Banana). Among them there are plants that are grown only as ornamental plants or as industrial crops. For example, Japanese Musa Basjoo Sieb. & Zucc. And M. ornata Roxb., or Filipino M. textiles Nee. grown only for the fiber used in the manufacture of strong ropes and tea bags. The so-called Abyssinian banana M. ensete cultivated in Ethiopia for fiber, as well as young sprouts and stem bases, eaten. Fruit M. balbisiana Colla. from South and Southeast Asia are practically unsuitable for food, but the plant is valued for its disease resistance, and therefore is often used as one of the "parents" in breeding new forms of edible bananas.

The modern name is banana paradise ( M. paradisiacal L.) was given to the plant by K. Linnaeus, clearly under the influence of Muslim knowledge that a banana grows in paradise, as stated in verse 29 of the sura al-Waqi'a(Event) of the Holy Quran. This is also supported by the fact that in Arabic the banana is called muses(ar. موز ‎), where did the Latin Musa- banana.

Almost 300 varieties of edible bananas known to date are divided into "sweet" and "starchy". The former are eaten raw, the latter are boiled, fried, steamed, dried, cooked with meat, fish, rice, etc. The pulp of such bananas is quite dense and tastes like potatoes. In America and Europe, it is customary to call a banana ( banana) yellow sweet fruits consumed fresh. Fruits rich in starch that require cooking before use are called "plantain" ( plantain). Dwarf bananas, sometimes also called sugar bananas, have yellow flesh that tastes much sweeter than regular bananas. Red bananas, which can vary in skin and flesh color from red to purple, hardly survive transportation and are therefore little known in countries where they are not grown. There are bananas with thin green skin and apple flavor.

banana inflorescence

Description

A banana is often called a tree by mistake, although in fact it is a perennial, very large herbaceous plant, in which the role of the trunk is played by numerous thick, juicy and wide leaf petioles, extending in a spiral from a fleshy rhizome, forming a dense cylinder, reaching a height of 6-7 m The smooth, oblong leaves, 5 to 15 in number, unfurl at the rate of one leaf per week in warm weather. The leaves reach 2.7 m in length and 60 cm in width. They can be all green, green with burgundy spots, or green on the outside and purplish red on the inside. Flowering occurs 6-8 months after the start of pseudostem growth.

The inflorescence is a modified growth point in the form of a pointed process that emerges from the core of the rosette of leaves at the end of the stem. At first it is a large, elongated, cone-shaped purple kidney. As the bracts open, tubular white flowers appear, clustered in double rows, arranged in a spiral along the flower stalk. Female flowers occupy the bottom 5-15 rows; above them there may be several rows of bisexual and asexual flowers; male flowers are located in the upper rows. Young fruits develop from female flowers and gradually become like thin green fingers. The bracts soon fall off, and the ripened fruits in each brush turn into bunches of bananas weighing from 10 to 90 kg. Under the mass of fruits, the stem droops, and bunches of bananas turn upside down. The duration of fruit ripening ranges from 90 to 120 days.

The fruits are berries that change color from bright green to yellow or red, sometimes with white stripes. They reach a size of 6 to 30 cm in length, 2 to 5 cm in width and have an oblong, cylindrical or trihedral, straight or somewhat curved shape. The flesh is ivory to yellow, reddish or purple in color, when unripe can be firm, tart and even contain latex, when ripe it becomes tender, soft and friable or dry, mealy. The taste can be sweet, sweet and sour, apple-like, or starchy.

After fruiting, the ground part of the banana dies off, and a new plant develops from the rhizomatous offspring growing around the main plant, and this process of renewal continues continuously.

banana fruit

Fruit

The pulp of ripe bananas contains up to 75% water, 20-22% easily digestible sugars, 1.6% starch, proteins, fats, vitamins, organic acids, pectins, amino acids, essential oil, fiber, macro- and microelements. One kilogram of banana pulp contains about 970 calories and five or six bananas are equivalent to a decent dinner in terms of energy saturation. From a modern point of view, banana fruits are considered nutritious fruits that are quickly digested and contain biological substances that have a beneficial effect on the human body. The main value of banana fruits lies in the significant content of easily digestible carbohydrates (about 30 g per 100 g of product), which are a source of energy that is quickly absorbed by the human body.

The vegetable protein of bananas is not complete, but contains some of the amino acids necessary for a person. A small amount of vegetable fats consists of polyunsaturated fatty acids, which reduce the possibility of the formation of excess cholesterol, protect the liver from fatty infiltration, regulate important metabolic processes in the body, reducing the likelihood of atherosclerosis, including the coronary vessels of the heart. The dietary fiber of the banana fruit stimulates the processes of digestion and removal of excrement.

Pectin substances contained in the banana pulp, getting into the gastrointestinal tract, reduce the mechanical and chemical effects of harmful substances on the walls of the stomach and intestines, preventing inflammation of the mucous membrane of the stomach and intestines. Pectins form insoluble salts with heavy metals and radionuclides, which are therefore not absorbed through the mucosa of the gastrointestinal tract and are excreted from the body along with excrement. These substances are also able to bind and remove from the body microorganisms and their toxins, toxic substances formed in the human body during digestion, xenobiotics, metabolic products, as well as biologically harmful substances that can accumulate in the body: cholesterol, bile acids, urea, bilirubin , serotonin, histamine, mast cell products. With regular intake of pectin substances in the body, the general state of health improves, the possibility of dysfunctions of the nervous, cardiovascular systems and digestive organs decreases.

The pulp of banana fruits contains provitamin A, vitamins B 1, B 2, B 3 (vitamin PP), B 6, B 9, C, E. Macronutrients: potassium, silicon, magnesium, sodium, phosphorus. Trace elements: aluminum, iodine, cobalt, manganese, selenium, chromium, zinc. Medicines are not made from banana fruits, but the complex of biologically active substances contained in them, balanced by the Almighty Creator himself, ensures the normal functioning of the body and increases its ability to resist a wide variety of diseases.

Banana fruits can be used as a dietary product for inflammatory lesions of the oral mucosa, diapedetic bleeding, gastric and duodenal ulcers, bacterial disinteria, enteritis of various origins, ulcerative colitis and other chronic diseases of the gastrointestinal tract. Banana fruits are an ideal food on the so-called fasting days, when a person takes food that allows the intestines and the whole body to work in a gentle mode. Young banana leaves, crushed to a pulp, were used to treat burns and inflamed wounds. A decoction of the flowers was used for diabetes, and juice from fresh flowers was instilled for earaches.

Bananamania
India is considered the birthplace of the banana. It was from there that these sweet fruits spread throughout the tropical zone. Banana means finger in Arabic.
In fact, much of what you have heard about bananas is not true. They don't grow on palm trees: the banana is a grass. Moreover, this grass grows by 15 meters, or even more. Pollinated at night and exclusively by bats. The banana fruit is a berry. These berries are transported to special banana carrier ships.

What is made from bananas in their homeland? Well, for example, beer, which reaches a fortress of 28 degrees. Wild bananas have seeds. In some countries, banana grass tubers are considered more palatable than the fruit. In the same countries banana skins are smoked - banarets stronger than the blackest cigars. In the Philippines, bananas are used to make cardboard.

The color of bananas is simply amazingly diverse, in warm countries you can find not only yellow, but also green, brown, orange, pink, red and even purple fruits.
To date, there are about 400 varieties.

There are two classifications of bananas - according to their purpose and scientific. According to the first bananas are divided into table, dessert and vegetable. Table bananas of varietal groups Cavendish, Gros Michel, Lacatan make up the bulk of the world's banana exports. That's what we eat.

Red bananas differ from traditional table bananas in the color of their skins, which can be red, maroon, and reddish brown. In a number of varieties, the flesh has a pink color, their fruits are thicker and rounded, and the taste is similar to the taste of a fruit banana. Apple, baby, sugar, ladies bananas are different varieties of mini bananas. Their fruits reach a length of 8 - 12 centimeters. They rarely reach us, because they are poorly stored.

Vegetable bananas of the Planteyn varietal group they are eaten mainly after cooking and become black, not yellow, when ripe. Outwardly, they differ from traditional table bananas in larger sizes.

In Russia, up to 20 varieties are sold.

Now for some botany. The fact that a banana is a perennial herb, you have already learned. However, not everyone knows that the stem of this grass is underground and is a rhizome, the mass of which can reach 10 kg! What is on the surface and is usually called a stem or trunk are leaves wrapped one around the other. Such a false trunk reaches a height of 10-15 m and 60 cm in diameter. At the top of the false trunk is a nondescript inflorescence, from which the fruits develop. The fruits on the plant appear after 6-10 months. Such a stem lives only one year, because. after fruit ripening, it dies off.

Now about culinary addictions. If for us bananas are more like a dessert, then for the inhabitants of the tropics it is a “second bread” or a “strategic” product, successfully replacing side dishes, potatoes, bread and even meat. So, in Cuba, banana-fries are considered a popular dish, in Australia, bananas are cut lengthwise into two halves, rolled in flour and breadcrumbs, sprinkled with salt and pepper and fried in boiling fat. Africans add bananas to all dishes - scrambled eggs, soup, porridge, and even served as a side dish to fish. But most of the banana harvest on the Black Continent is used to make fruit beer. Europeans are not used to cooking bananas, but they treat these fruits with great respect.
Such a universal love for bananas is not accidental, because it is not only a tasty and quite satisfying product, but also a wonderful source of vitamins and minerals, especially potassium.

Choosing bananas is very easy - for urgent use, you need to buy yellow fruits with a smooth matte skin. However, even completely green fruits can easily ripen at your place, and this will not affect the taste and the presence of vitamins in purchased bananas. Even in warm countries, the fruits are harvested green. After all, bananas ripening on a tree do not gain the necessary taste and aroma, but, on the contrary, lose them, the peel of the fruit cracks and the flesh is easily affected by diseases, therefore these fruits are harvested unripe.
Do not store purchased bananas in the refrigerator. Like any tropical fruit, In the cold, bananas lose their taste and aroma, it is best to store at room temperature.
Peeled bananas must be eaten immediately, otherwise the flesh will oxidize, turn brown and lose vitamins.

Why is it that one banana is sweet and the other has no taste at all? And because the banana, although the same, is different. The most important thing in this berry is how and where it ripened. After all, fruits are transported only green, unripe. Some of them manage to reach the condition on the way, but these will definitely not be sweet. Survivors are treated with gas in a special room. It's not scary, it's technology. The fruit releases ethylene gas when ripe. Therefore, if a green fruit is treated with gas, it begins to ripen on its own and does it correctly, as in nature. If for about a week everything is in order with gas and temperature (when laying it, it should be 18 degrees and every day must go down by about a degree), then the berries turn out to be licking your fingers. And if it’s not normal, then they don’t work out ... True, those who ate this fruit ripened on their native branch say that the sensations are much richer. But what to do - you can not carry them mature.

But even from artificially ripened bananas, you can cook delicious and fragrant dishes.

RECIPES

BANANA SPECIAL PURPOSE

Nobody knows anything about bananas. Neither the one who sells, nor the one who eats them. Horror. Need to do something

IN In fact, everything you've heard about bananas isn't true. They don't grow on palm trees: the banana is a grass. Moreover, this grass grows by 15 meters, or even more. Pollinated at night and exclusively by bats. The banana fruit is a berry. These berries are transported on special banana carriers. Beer from bananas reaches a strength of 28 degrees. Banana means finger in Arabic. Wild bananas have seeds. In some economically backward countries, banana grass tubers are considered more palatable than the fruit. In the same countries they smoke banana skins - banarets are stronger than the blackest cigarettes. In the Philippines, bananas are made into cardboard, because they are no good for anything else, very bitter. And, finally, the fact that there are as many as 400 varieties of bananas, and only a quarter of them are inedible.
Russian GOST, however, thinks differently. According to him, there are only three varieties of bananas: extra, first and second. The diameter of fruit of the extra grade and the first grade should be 3 - 4 cm, the second grade - from 2.7 to 4.1 cm. The length of the extra bananas should be more than 20 cm, the first grade - 19 cm, and the second - 14 cm. The fruit should be "consumer maturity", that is, evenly yellow, but without spots. Should not be chilled - such bananas have a grayish-yellow skin color.
“But what about pink bananas,” someone who has been to some Mexico will ask? Where are they? Why does a banana only have to be yellow when it can also be black? And this is all because only two varieties of banana are produced on an industrial scale all over the world - Gross Michel and the same Cavendish, which, due to the banana epidemic invented by PR people, is allegedly threatened with complete extinction. These bananas are sweet, table bananas, they are eaten raw. There are other varieties, starchy ones: they are just boiled, fried, steamed, dried, and generally cooked in every possible way. There are varieties of dessert, small, exotic color and taste. And there are no fodder bananas. It's just such an urban myth.
“How can it not happen?!” the discerning reader will say. “Why is one banana sweet, and the other mother-in-law is ashamed to give?” And because the banana, although the same, is different. The most important thing in this berry is how and where it ripened. After all, fruits are transported only green, unripe. Some of them manage to reach the condition on the way, but these will definitely not be sweet. Survivors are treated in a special room, God forgive me, with gas.
It's not scary, it's technology. Fruit releases ethylene gas when ripe. Therefore, if a green fruit is treated with gas, it begins to ripen on its own and does it correctly, as in nature. They even bend in the right direction: after all, those bananas that do not fall from their native branch into the hold of a banana truck, during the natural ripening process, stretch upwards towards the sun. They say it's because of special growth hormones. If for about a week everything is in order with gas and temperature (when laying it, it should be 18 degrees and every day must go down by about a degree), then the berries turn out to be licking your fingers. And if it’s not normal, then they don’t work out ... True, those who ate this fruit ripened on their native branch say that the sensations are much richer. But what to do - you can’t carry them mature ...
After the Russians ate their fill of the familiar "Cavendish", some of them wanted something more exotic. Now in advanced stores you can also find dessert varieties. There are short fat red bananas, and small "finger" bananas with a sweet honey taste, and manzano bananas with a delicate apple tint, which are eaten when they turn completely black, and tiny misore bananas from India, and bananas of the variety "orinoco" with a light strawberry flavor... All this fruit splendor is practically unbearable for transportation. The skin of most mini bananas is no thicker than a millimeter. How to carry them? Hence the prices...
Those fruits that belong to the "Plantain" varieties are usually fried in Latin America and Africa. If you see a price tag like "boiling bananas" in the supermarket, it's likely to be them. These are starchy or vegetable bananas: they are used for food after cooking (they are also eaten raw, but instead of aspirin, they greatly bring down the temperature). "Plantain" is larger than the usual table banana in size, it looks ribbed and angular and does not turn yellow when ripe, but blackens. They are boiled, fried, dried and made into chips, like potatoes. They are most similar in taste to potatoes.
Dmitry NAZAROV

P.S.:

What bananas! Try to enter in the line of some search engine on the Internet, as I did, the words "how to choose potatoes for frying." The answer to you will be: "The desired combination of words is not found anywhere." It's a shame, the right word, because any foreign cook from the most seedy Moscow restaurant knows that potatoes are different from potatoes. Each dish has its own variety: for frying, for example, the “luck” variety is ideal, but other early varieties with a low starch content are also suitable. On the contrary, starch varieties are brewed, for example, Zhukovsky early. And the French variety "Adretta" is best suited for mashed potatoes, and it is a pleasure to bake it: it turns out soft, loose - delicious!
If no one, even the director of the supermarket, has been able to tell you what kind of potato you bought, you can advise a few simple rules. If the potatoes are yellow - this is for soup, pink - fry, from white - mash.
Photos used in the material: Photo Library, Reuters

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