Types and varieties of bananas

Bananas do not grow on trees, banana plant don't have a woody stem, they are actually a giant herb. Bananas are thought to be one of the world's oldest cultivated fruits and evidence of their existence dates back to the sixth century BC in India.

Bananas grow in bunches called a hand and each hand has about 15-20 fingers or fruit. They are harvested when green and ripen best after picking.

There are more than 500 varieties of bananas around the world, Popular varieties of banana include Cavendish, sugar bananas Gros Michel or "Big Michel" and lady fingers, while the plantain is a large type of banana that is hard and starchy and is mostly used as a vegetable in cooking.


Types of bananas

• Cavendish variety are the yellow banana which is 5 to 10 inches in length and available all year.

• Red bananas are slightly wider and are heavier and sweeter than yellow bananas. Their red skin turns purple when ripe.

• Manzano bananas also called finger or apple bananas are short and chubby with a mild, strawberry-apple flavor.  They turn fully black when ripe.

• Plantains also called green or cooking bananas, they are thick-skinned  bananas that range from green to yellow to brown-black and are staple food in many parts of the world. When unripe plantains are cooked, they have no banana flavor, however, when cooked ripe, they have a sweet banana taste and a slightly chewy texture.