Banana

 The term “banana” refers to the edible fruit of any species in the genus Musa (the edible fruits of the closely related genus Ensete are sometimes also called “bananas,” usually as “false bananas”). Humans have been cultivating various species and hybrids of bananas for 9 to 10,000 years. Most Westerners have encountered only two kinds of bananas, “dessert bananas,” which are sweet enough to be eaten raw as a fruit, and “plaintains,” which are more starchy than sweet, and are cooked as a starchy vegetable. This system of classification may suit the supermarket botanist, but, when one moves toward Southeast Asia, the homeland of the genus, and banana agriculture, or Western Africa, the second center of cultivated banana diversification, such distinctions quickly break down in the face of so many species and varieties with diverse uses. The supermarket botanist should also beware of the various “wild type” bananas, i.e., the wild species from whom the cultivated varieties are descended, the ripe fruits of which have a plethora of small, pebble-like seeds that can easily crack the teeth of an unwary human diner. Supermarket bananas, both dessert and plaintains, by contrast, lack seeds because they are either hybrids, triploid mutants, or hybrid triploid mutants.

Bananas are recognized as an excellent source of dietary potassium, soluble fiber, and vitamin B6. Bananas also have large amounts of the amino acid tyrosine, and may affect the dopamine production of people who are deficient in that amino acid. A diet that sees frequent consumption of bananas may lead to a reduced incidence of colorectal cancer.

In Chinese Food Therapy, bananas are eaten as a gentle laxative for children and people with weak physiques who have constipation. Bananas are also helpful in detoxifying the body, especially for helping mitigate the symptoms of hangovers. Bananas can also be used to help clear heat from the lungs. In Chinese Cuisine, or rather, in the various Southern Chinese cuisines, bananas are either eaten directly, raw, or cooked. Most of the banana-related recipes seen in Chinese cuisine are desserts or sweet snacks. To be more precise, the various banana-related dishes in Chinese cuisine seen by Westerners are dessert recipes, especially ones that involve frying the banana in peanut or vegetable oil before dipping it in hot, molten toffee.