Nothing manages its affairs better than a plant, little as it moves about for sustenance and procreativity. Yet, without the plant, life for the non-plant would be impossible. Throughout the evolutionary trend, plant species span from the simplest to the most complex life forms and have adapted to occupy every habitat. Plants have been the pioneers that animals have followed to colonise new territories. Without plants, the all important life processes of respiration and nutrition would be impossibilities. Respect the plant.

Wonders of the banana

Mention of banana brings forth many concepts of life. Like the loathed “banana republics” that cannot feed themselves or even manage their economies and populations; or the famed supermarket yellow curvy-elongate fruit that staves off hunger right there at the tills without the aesthetics of washing hands or the fruit; or the green varieties that are cooked and pounded into a mealy mash that is as heavy as concrete; or the green frondy evergreen shrub of the tropics.

From the birds in the air to monkeys in the woods and zoos; from farmhands in the tropical fields to the elite at tables of Whitehall and Whitehouse in the West; the banana is one that equates all. No wonder the great man Disrael- yes- that Premier of the Great Britain exclaimed about the tasty fruit when he first tasted it on a visit to Egypt in 1831.

The delicious taste is conferred by a combination of sugars that makes banana one of the sweetest fruits in nature. And that is tested well by the range of animals that make banana their mainstay.

I, too, have eaten my share of bananas – from those days when my babysitting Nan Tabby would feed me almost mouth-to-mouth in secret to check my bawling, or when my loving mum spared just one more bite for me, to this very moment as I savour this yellow dark-spotted one. And, after a recent viral infection that had left me “inebriated with a drop of alcohol” that a GP termed labyrinthitis, I have total faith and confidence in the power of the banana. I have made banana my breakfast, lunch, supper, snack, and midnight crave.

And I can’t just hope to be the only benefactor. These days of economic crisis have condemned many to a diet of bananas like man is in a zoo. Fact is, the fast lane work-life balance to beat recession has seen even the politicos waving bananas as they shuffle for votes and gadgets.

The plant

Banana belongs to the genus Musa, of the family Musaceae and kingdom Plantarum. This “tree without a stem” is one of wonder, thus qualifying for the undisputed title of the largest herb on earth. But how many know its eco-physiology to honour it? Are you lucky enough to distinguish the front-face supermarket yellow fruit with the dirt that comes with it? The other day, my dear daughter Faith Lisa didn’t, and I felt really challenged that I had left her to suffer the ignorance for so long.

Although a tropical plant originating from the South East Asia, it has been introduced and presently cultivated throughout the pan-tropic ecosystems. The basic structure is an underground root or corm from which grows the pseudostem (= false stem). Due to its vegetative growth, it can withstand harsh climatic conditions from semi-arid to very humid climates. It is for the same reason that banana can attain maturity in stature from as short as about a metre to over seven metres. Added to that an almost similar length of the robust leaves, banana becomes one of the most morphologically diverse species. And, scientific tissue culture trials have further increased this diversity. There are over 50 taxonomic species and variety of uses.

The plant is evergreen and thus produces fruit the year round. The fruit is borne on a terminal inflorescence that can hold up to one hundred fingers. Thank God for the infinitesimal matured ova, and the bees that left thinking they had done their work of pollination not knowing that they had laboured in vain. And bless the alkaloids in the green banana skin that beat the birds’ palates.

Food value

The most economic importance of the banana is the food value. Grown in over a hundred countries worldwide and easily transported across the world, banana is a great contributor towards worldwide food security.

A number of distinct groups of edible bananas have been developed from species of Musa. By far the largest and now the most widely distributed group is derived from Musa acuminata (mainly) and Musa balbisiana either alone or in various hybrid combinations.

Many millions of people especially in the tropical countries have a heavily subsidised banana diet, and this may be a contributor to subtle differences that would be explained from such a diet. Mainly eaten as ripe fruit and occasionally as cooked green banana mash, banana can also be used to make milk shakes, banana splits, banana cream pies, and fruit salads. They can also be fried or baked into banana crisps.

Ripe bananas are the preserve of many, from birds to predators. Left to ripen in nature, bananas would not survive the hour owing to their sweetness. But it is their diversity that beholds. Unbeknown to many, there are bananas for ripening, others for cooking, for making beer, and for grinding to flour. But to the novice, they are all the same and thus the continual constipations. Blame it on bananas.

But for the pride, Tesco has saved you the horror. Just nick there and come out with your choice. Don’t worry about the lack of your desired ripeness, they have already done the ethylene treatment and it will only be a matter of hours before the black-spotted hue shows.

Your choice bunch in hand, the finger to pick is your own prelude. You ponder the rows, marvelling at the morphological development that allows you to hive off some fingers at will and ease. Finally, your banana is in your hand awaiting justice.

The phallic curvature, angular hardness and texture might evoke dislike, but the portended lavishing rushes you to peel it fast. Because of the tough skin, the inner meal is safely protected from bacteria and dirt. No seeds to grind or spit out; just sweet mealy stuff. But which side do you peel first?

Few would care which side they peel. After all, the end is the same. But botanically, it should be peeled from the apex where the fibres fuse to close the fruit. The fibres run unbroken from the rhizome through the pseudo-stem to the inflorescence and the banana. It is far much easier to separate the fibres than to break them at the base. And, nutritionally, since the apex ripens later than the base, it would be sound to eat banana from the apex so that the sweeter end is the last to be ingested and thus not leave you with a poor taste.

Health value

Although an apple is reputed to keep the doctor away, the banana ranks higher in meeting the natural health well being of man.

Man’s carbohydrate requirements may be met comfortably from banana. On average, a good quarter of the weight of banana is carbohydrate. It is easily digested, at almost every person ranging from infants to OAPs, and it yields loads of energy. In addition to a wonderful water content to ensure that banana does not go soggy while at the same time retain form in texture not too dry for a man’s mastication, it becomes natural to eat banana anywhere anytime anyway one wishes to.

Deserts also come out wonderful when banana is included, because it has less water content as well as higher concentration of easily digestible sugars- fructose, sucrose and glucose- than most other fresh fruits. A great structural advantage of banana is significantly high dietary fibre content that is ideal for digestion and bowel movement for those who suffer constipation. Such factors are important to people who have high food cravings, and increased banana intake would be added advantage for the many on expensive diets hoping to keep their figure and those struggling to lose weight.

Another plus is that the anoxic have a soft, easily digestible source of straight sugars to feed their narrow demands without the recourse to further water intakes as would be necessary with biscuits.

The good water balance is also ideal for lessening diarrhoea. Again, it might be due to the improved salt-water balance when potassium interacts with sodium in the body. Or, the mealy carbohydrates might be absorbing some of the excess water causing the diarrhoea. Let the nutritionists continue their search as we naturally ease our Imodium purchases.

Medicinal importance

Bananas has significant concentration of tryptophan, a vital amino acid in the biosynthesis of serotonin- yes, that all-important chemical in the blood that plays the most significant role in management of stress and depression. No wonder Selina can survive in confinement at the Bristol Zoo for three decades without loosing her mind and nerve while we always “go bananas” despite all the therapy and medication and meditation and gyms and leisure.

Banana also has significantly high concentrations of potassium that determines the bodies osmotic or the salt-water balance. By the same, banana helps to lower blood pressure and hence this can be construed to reduce the incidences of stroke.

Bananas are high in vitamins especially A, B and C. Particularly the latter, considering that a banana contains roughly 8% vitamin C weight for weight, then just five bananas could meet all the daily requirement by humans. And that could mean the end of scurvy that plagues young children and sailors at sea.

Banana also has good amounts of minerals, especially calcium, copper, iron, magnesium, phosphorus, zinc and sulphur. Therefore, bananas can improve man’s physiological processes like bone and teeth development, regenerating of haemoglobin in the red cells, and in the biosynthesis of most sulphur containing amino acids.

Banana has low protein content, and is thus recommended for people suffering from kidney disorders. And when fully ripe, most of the sugars are reduced to fructose that could be a better substitute for sucrose for the diabetics who cannot tolerate sucrose. And, since banana has low fat contents, people can enjoy it and still benefit from the added advantage of acting like a salve to alleviate cases of peptic ulcers, again thanks to the magnesium in the fruit.

The banana peels have a soothing effect that is used to treat burns. The inside of the skin is also used in suppressing the growth of warts when repeatedly rubbed until the growths die off.

Other economic benefits

Where they grow bananas, the pseudo-stem and leaves have a most significant role to play. These, when chopped up into little bits are a significant source of stall-fed livestock. Peelings from the green bananas and the ripe ones also form a delicacy for the livestock. The biomass produced from a single stem is enough to feed a stall-fed dairy cow for a day, thus increasing the amounts of other food derivatives from banana. More benefits follow as the dung from the livestock is taken back to the field as manure that further improves the soil fertility and thus the production of the bananas. It’s a grand life that bananas support, towards meeting the carbon budgets of the countries they originate from that advocates against airfreights should comprehend.

Banana stem and leaves have an industrial advantage in Far East where they are used in the manufacture of a fabric called kamishimo that is used to make the Japanese kimono. Such a present might break the ice…

In a nutshell

As the economic crisis continues its stranglehold on all, eating bananas may be the most economical way of surviving to work the shift as well as meet the rising cost of living. And if a recent Exeter-Oxford study is true, then eating bananas can also increase the probability of siring a son for those families still looking for an heir in form of a son.

Many more are spending thousands in gym subscriptions that keep them away from their partners and families. Not withstanding the fact that the energy expended thus would be channelled elsewhere to make more in order to beat the bills, eating a banana would also ease the pains of weight lifting as well as allow for quality time with the children. Who says that the banana won’t come in to save the relationship?