Banana Facts
A Short Guide to Banana Facts
These banana facts will teach you what you should know about this favorite fruit.
• Banana facts include: Bananas are the single most popular fruit in our United States, even more popular than the orange or the apple. Bananas have peels that are SO easy to peel off, and they ripen after they're picked, so you can buy green bananas and let them ripen at home, until they are just how you like them.
• Bananas are easy to find in the supermarket, regardless of what season it is, and they are a great source of carbs and potassium, as well as 11 minerals and 6 vitamins. They're also inexpensive, and very popular with athletes.
• When picking a banana, facts say look for the fruit that is most yellow over-all. It may also have brown speckles or spots. Green is fine if you have time to let them ripen at home, but otherwise, even yellow fruits with green at the ends are not quite ripe yet. Stay away from bananas with brown soft spots, as these are beyond perfect ripeness already. If you smell a strong banana odor on the fruit, it is over-ripe.
• Bananas will ripen for you at home, if you leave them sit for just a couple of days at room temperature. After the bananas are ripe, you can store them in the refrigerator without causing them to over-ripen. Even if the peel shows some brown, they are not over-ripe.
• Banana facts include the knowledge that they were originally grown in Southeast Asia. In 1516, Spanish missionaries brought bananas to Central America. Portuguese explorers brought bananas from Africa to the Canary Islands.
• Central American countries are an excellent supplier of bananas to North America. The labor in Central America is cheap, and our markets relatively close by, so there isn't a big shipping cost.
• The banana, facts say, is the highest fruit cash-crop consumed in the United States, but worldwide the banana is third fiddle to apples and oranges, which enjoy more popularity.
• The bananas we eat in the Midwest are usually picked green, and ripen on their way to us. Banana facts confirm that tourists who pick bananas fresh while on vacation in Central America enjoy a much richer flavor when eating ripe bananas than we do.
• How can you make your diet “go bananas”?
• Use bananas in yogurt or cereal, or slip them on a peanut butter sandwich.
• Pop some bananas in the blender with some other fruit for a great smoothie.
• Carry a banana in your lunch sack, or use it for a healthy snack.
• For a different type of treat, slice a banana and then freeze it for a couple hours. It makes a great soft-frozen treat!