Banana, or the genus Musa, is a kind of fruit native to Indomalaya and Australia. This fruit was first domesticated in Papua New Guinea, and after the explorers from Europe visited the country and brought the tree back to their own countries, the fruit had been widespread all around the world.
Being known as the largest herbaceous flowering plant in the world, banana has no actual trunk. The reason is, the very banana we know is actually a kind of berry just like grapes, tomatoes, and cucumbers, but not strawberry (which apparently doesn’t belong to real berries).
What actually appears as a trunk is actually a ‘false stem’, since the plant has no wood in it. Banana is growing from a structure called ‘corm’ in the bottom, where new leaves are produced and the stems of the leaves construct the ‘tree’.
Although you have seen this fruit many times in your life, you might haven’t known it quite well. While actually, there are many hidden facts about banana that will make you happy to know it. So, in this article, we will tell you 6 facts about banana that will make you happy.
1. Banana Is Radioactive
If you hear the word radioactive, what comes to you mind? Dangerous radiation leading to cancer, and even death? So, what if we tell you that banana is actually radioactive, will you get rid of this fruit from your dinner table?
Well, getting rid of the banana on your dinner table is actually an overreaction. Indeed, the fruit is radioactive since it contains K-40 potassium atoms, but the dosage is too mild. Researchers counted that we have to eat at least 10 million bananas to die from the radiation effect.
Thus, we don’t need to dump the bananas on our table to get away from its radiation. For your information, we are, human, are far more radioactive than banana. If you want to get rid of it, just eat it since banana contains a lot of potassium, like mentioned above, that helps our body functioning well.
In fact, potassium is a great pre-workout nutrition, since it will help maintaining our nerve and muscle during workouts. That’s why, if you plan on doing workouts or some physical exercises, make sure to consume this radioactive berry to prevent sore muscle.
2. American Minions
Have you ever watched the animated movie Despicable Me? If you have, you will notice a group of yellow little creatures called minions that seem like having vivid obsessions toward banana. Well, those minions might be fictitious, but in real life we also have a group of people with special obsession toward the fruit.
‘That’ group of people are not the ones living in isolated area or small part of the world, but they are living in one of the most powerful country in the world, United States of America. Yes, Americans are obsessed with banana, and the fruit is the most popular food in the country.
The reason is because recent mass import of bananas to USA that gives enormous supply of banana for everyone in the country. Averagely, one American consume up to 25 pounds of banana a year. The number far exceeds any other fruits you might think can compete with the yellow berry, such as orange, apple, or strawberry.
3. Banana Makes You Happy
In line with our title, banana can literally make you happy. We are not lying to you in any way, because this is scientifically proven. Whenever you feel low, simply just eat some banana, and you will get the instant mood boost.
The fruit contains amino acid, tryptophan, and vitamin B6 that help our brains to produce serotonin or known as the hormone of satisfaction. That’s why, eating banana will instantly make you more relaxed and calm.
Banana also contains high amount of magnesium, and the mineral acts as a mood booster to us. In a medium size banana, we can get at least 30 milligrams of magnesium which is sufficient amount of the mineral to get rid of the clouds in our minds.
Not only that, the consumption of this fruit may also help you to avoid depression. Again, it is the magnesium inside the fruit that takes part. In a day, women are suggested to consume at least 320 milligrams of magnesium, and men are suggested to consume at least 420 milligrams of it to prevent depression.
4. It Helps Other Fruits To Ripen
This is one unique fact about banana that not many people know. The fruit produces large quantity of ethylene gas, which is the hormone that helps fruits to ripen. So, if you have some unripe fruits like apples, oranges, avocados, or peaches, and you want to ripen it quicker, put it together in a bowl with some bananas and leave it for a night.
5. We Share 50% Of Our DNA With Banana
Chimpanzee is said to be the closest relative of human since we share 98% of our DNA with them. While with banana, we share about 50% of our DNA. So, does it mean that when we eat bananas we are risking eating our far relatives or ancestors?
No, it is not working that way, our DNA is actually shared with various species of microorganisms, plants, and animals. Thus, eating banana is not a genocide to our far relatives or ancestors. You can eat as many as you want, as long as it is below 10 million (because of its radioactivity).
6. The Banana Reborn
Don’t you know that nowadays bananas are different from what our parents and grandparents used to eat? Bananas that we know nowadays are the clone of a single plant from Southeast Asia. The cloning itself was done to prevent global banana wipe out.
The pre-1960s bananas called the Gros Michel bananas, were wiped out globally because Panama Disease. That’s why the cloning of nowadays bananas was done to keep the supply of the fruit. Today’s bananas are Cavendish bananas, a little bit smaller than the Gros Michel, but stronger in fighting the Panama Disease.
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