The banana is doomed?

[Brian G Turner]

Almost all of the bananas we eat are of a single variety, Cavendish, grown to replace one wiped out by a virus in the 1950's.

But the virus has mutated, and is now deadly not simply to local strains, but especially to the Cavendish.

The imminent death of the Cavendish banana and why it affects us all - BBC News

Quote:
For decades the most-exported and therefore most important banana in the world was the Gros Michel, but in the 1950s it was practically wiped out by the fungus known as Panama disease or banana wilt.

Banana growers turned to another breed that was immune to the fungus - the Cavendish, a smaller and by all accounts less tasty fruit but one capable of surviving global travel and, most importantly, able to grow in infected soils.

But just as breeders were busy cultivating their Cavendishes, so too was the Panama disease developing a new strain capable of killing them off.

And the new fungus is even more deadly than that which wiped out the Gros Michel, for it also affects numerous local breeds of banana around the world.

"Banana?"

 

[Venusian Broon]

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!


I love bananas. They are a staple food for me

 

[Droflet]

That doesn't sound a-peeling. So the kids tv show will just be called in Bananas. The kids will cry.

 

[Lex E. Darion]

Surely there's another variety that can take over like the Cavendish did in the 50s? Damn viruses! They ruin all our fun

 

[The Bluestocking]

This is where living in the tropics comes in handy - we easily have 3 -4 types of bananas up for sale alongside the Cavendish banana.

 

[Droflet]

I live on an island with the strictest quarantine regulations on the planet. Come down under my dispossessed banana friends. We'll find a home for you.

 

[The Bluestocking]

I live on an island with the strictest quarantine regulations on the planet. Come down under my dispossessed banana friends. We'll find a home for you.

HA! They threw out Johnny Depp's doggie, even LOL!

 

[BAYLOR]

A world without Banana Split Sundaes is to depressing to contemplate. In this case there really is no substitute.

 

[Droflet]

Marshmallow splits? Nah, doesn't quite work, does it?

 

[BAYLOR]

Marshmallow splits? Nah, doesn't quite work, does it?

It's just not the same.

 

[Ray McCarthy]

Almost all of the bananas we eat are of a single variety, Cavendish

I've lived in other countries where they grow other kinds. Of course they are much smaller, but in compensation IMO taste better.
It's only the end of one kind of banana.

Where are all the apples we used to get?

 

[Dave]

This is where living in the tropics comes in handy - we easily have 3 -4 types of bananas up for sale alongside the Cavendish banana.

I think you will find they are plantains and have seeds inside them. They need to be cooked before eating them.

At least, the bananas we get, and eat raw, are all cloned from a single original plant and have no seeds inside so they cannot be re-grown from seed. It is this that causes the problem. They have no genetic variety within them and none is likely since they have no offspring and haven't had sex for centuries. As soon as the virus catches up with the banana they will all die. Mwahaha!

 

[Ray McCarthy]

I thought a banana IS a kind of plantain?
It's true they are rarely grown from seeds and rarely produce seeds, they are propagated by something like cuttings? Or something. They are certainly strange.

 

[BAYLOR]

Is this causing the banana to lose its appeal?

 

[The Bluestocking]

I think you will find they are plantains and have seeds inside them. They need to be cooked before eating them.

No - they are bananas. We have at least 6 or 7 types of bananas here - some for eating raw, some for frying (but can still be eaten raw if you wish). There's a particular type that is tiny but sweet as honey and a great favourite with children. Yes, one or two species still have seeds in them but they are NOT plantains (even though plantains are a type of banana).

And @RayMcCarthy is correct in that most bananas eaten today used to have seeds - they were just bred out of the more modern species of banana.

If you haven't grown up or lived in a tropical country where people even grow banana trees in their garden, please do not try to tell someone who has what is or isn't a banana just because you only get Cavendish bananas imported in to your part of the world where you can't grow bananas.

 

[DrMclony]

HA! They threw out Johnny Depp's doggie, even LOL!

I'm not certain one of those silly politicians wouldn't have eaten the dog had the cameras been switched off - what with the mindless greed and sociopathic tendencies that dominate politics these days...

 

[DrMclony]

Is this causing the banana to lose its appeal?

I thought I might lend you a hand with some puns...
Of course, not pointing any fingers, I see you have already taken this thing down the slippery road to dad jokes.
I guess I'll palm the puns off on somebody else...

 

[Alex The G and T]

The Talley Man has spoken. There's no going home.

 

[Dave]

If you haven't grown up or lived in a tropical country where people even grow banana trees in their garden, please do not try to tell someone who has what is or isn't a banana just because you only get Cavendish bananas imported in to your part of the world where you can't grow bananas.

That's why I qualified my reply with "At least, the bananas we get, and eat raw..." but you are welcome to find and take offense if that's what floats your boat. With the greatest of respect, don't tell me that I cannot study Botany if I have never left temperate climates. We do have glasshouses here (some of the largest in the world) and I can buy plantains in any nearby grocers (and buy any kind of tropical vegetables I might possibly desire.) The BBC report did go on to say that there were more types of banana than Cavendish, but nevertheless, it is still true that they are all practically genetically identical and therefore all still susceptible to the virus. If your "3-4 types" are bananas then I'm sorry but I don't follow how they are going to "come in handy." At best, they might have a few decades on the Cavendish but they are not a replacement.

 

[Brian G Turner]

Dave, I don't think she was taking offence as much as pointing out how limited our variety selection is. I certainly didn't know there were so many, or in such different forms.