10 Unusual Facts About Bananas!
I don’t think I know anyone who doesn’t enjoy a nice ripe banana. I forgot to follow up Why don’t Bananas have seeds with a fact list about bananas. So, I’m doing it now! Enjoy!
Banana Facts
- Bananas are the number one best-selling item at Walmarts across the United States.
- Banana trees aren’t trees at all but rather the world’s largest herb.
- Strangely, unlike raspberries and strawberries bananas are technically berries.
- There are more than 1,000 different types of bananas in existence!
- Bananas grow in clusters called “hands, and individual fruits are known as “fingers.” Many hands of bananas make up a larger stalk referred to as a “bunch,” which contains as many as 170 bananas.
- The average American consumes 28 lb (13 kg) each year.
Cavendish Bananas
- The yellow banana in the grocery store is a Cavendish banana
- The Cavendish is the most common and most widely exported type worldwide.
- Cavendish Bananas are a combination of two types of bad tasting and seed filled bananas.
- When combined they produce the tasty, seedless but sterile Cavendish banana you know and love.
Bonus Fact:
- Humans and bananas share a genetic similarity of 60 percent!