Banana Facts & Bet You Didn't Know

 

Bet you had no clue that about 60% of your genes have a recognizable counterpart in the banana genome. (Google) 

Did our ancestors (in the U.S.) eat bananas? Yes, possibly after "1870 when Capt. Lorenzo Baker brought bananas he had purchased in Jamaica to sell in Jersey City." But also just as possible bananas were brought to the Americas by Spanish explorers in the 1500s. "Bananas did not make their way to the U.S. until the 1800s when sailors brought banana shoots home from the Caribbean." (Google)

*There are over 1000 varieties of these fruits grown in 150 countries.

*Bananas were also cultivated as a source of fibres that were treated and made into cloth. 

* Bananas grow on a tree, right? Wrong. The "trunk" is actually a false stem for the largest herbaceous flowering plant.

* Bananas float in water, as do apples and watermelons.