# The banana is doomed?



## Brian G Turner (Jan 24, 2016)

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?"


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## Venusian Broon (Jan 24, 2016)

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!


I love bananas. They are a staple food for me


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## Droflet (Jan 24, 2016)

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


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## Lex E. Darion (Jan 24, 2016)

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


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## The Bluestocking (Jan 24, 2016)

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.


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## Droflet (Jan 24, 2016)

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.


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## The Bluestocking (Jan 24, 2016)

Droflet said:


> 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!


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## BAYLOR (Jan 24, 2016)

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


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## Droflet (Jan 24, 2016)

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


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## BAYLOR (Jan 24, 2016)

Droflet said:


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



It's just not the same.


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## Ray McCarthy (Jan 24, 2016)

Brian Turner said:


> 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?


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## Dave (Jan 25, 2016)

The Bluestocking said:


> 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!


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## Ray McCarthy (Jan 25, 2016)

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.


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## BAYLOR (Jan 25, 2016)

Is this causing the banana to lose its _appeal_?


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## The Bluestocking (Jan 26, 2016)

Dave said:


> 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.


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## DrMclony (Jan 26, 2016)

The Bluestocking said:


> 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...


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## DrMclony (Jan 26, 2016)

BAYLOR said:


> 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...


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## Alex The G and T (Jan 26, 2016)

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


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## Dave (Jan 26, 2016)

The Bluestocking said:


> 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.


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## Brian G Turner (Jan 26, 2016)

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.


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## Ray McCarthy (Jan 26, 2016)

If we say Canaries are part of Africa, then Iceland is the only European country that grows bananas. Using geoenergy in glasshouses. Ireland is a banana Republic, Fyffes used to buy practically all of the British Honduras crop. Ireland is still "technically" one of the largest banana exporters in the world.


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## The Bluestocking (Jan 26, 2016)

Dave said:


> 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.



I wasn't objecting to your second paragraph, nor did I say anything about objecting to you studying botany (or anyone studying botany for that matter).

I was taken aback by your first statement: "I think you will find they are plantains and have seeds inside them. They need to be cooked before eating them" in response to me saying that we have 3 -4 types of bananas for sale at any one time (alongside the Cavendish or instead of the Cavendish) over here.

To me, that sounded like you were correcting what I've experienced here without having experienced it yourself, given that you live somewhere where bananas have to be imported (and many varieties from the tropics never do make an appearance in the UK, even in Little India or Chinatown) and I live somewhere where we can grow them in our backyard.

And having many more types/varieties of bananas "comes in handy" because if there's a blight on one or two different types of bananas, there are still alternatives available. Some of the bananas here haven't been genetically modified - they still have seeds etc.

That is all.


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## Ray McCarthy (Jan 26, 2016)

The Bluestocking said:


> I think you will find they are plantains and have seeds inside them


Certainly I have had bananas with no seeds, perfect raw, not Cavendish. All much smaller and one has a pinkish skin. But never in Europe. Cavendish need too much water for some places.


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## The Bluestocking (Jan 26, 2016)

Ray McCarthy said:


> Certainly I have had bananas with no seeds, perfect raw, not Cavendish. All much smaller and one has a pinkish skin. But never in Europe. Cavendish need too much water for some places.



Yes, there are a number of varieties with no seeds in them (some naturally so, some engineered to be so). We don't get the pink bananas over there but we have many small varieties here. All of them taste slightly different - some are more tart (hence perfect for frying in batter - YUM! - or making banana bread) and others are super sweet! Most can be eaten raw though some, like plantains, need cooking of some kind.


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## Mr Orange (Jan 26, 2016)

> It is believed that there are almost 1000 varieties of bananas in the world, subdivided in 50 groups. The most commonly known banana is the Cavendish variety, which is the one produced for export markets.



from here: All about bananas | Banana Link

so, presumably, there will be another variety that is resistant


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## The Bluestocking (Jan 26, 2016)

Mr Orange said:


> from here: All about bananas | Banana Link
> 
> so, presumably, there will be another variety that is resistant



Oranges and bananas go quite well together. I often include some grated orange peel in my banana bread batter. The banana bread comes out smelling heavenly thanks to the citrussy boost


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## REBerg (Jan 26, 2016)

Alex The G and T said:


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


Not even when daylight come?


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## The Bluestocking (Jan 26, 2016)

REBerg said:


> Not even when daylight come?



STAAHP! I now have The Banana Boat Song (the version by Harry Belafonte, Jr) stuck in my head and visions of that dance scene from BEETLEJUICE...


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## REBerg (Jan 26, 2016)

The Bluestocking said:


> STAAHP! I now have The Banana Boat Song (the version by Harry Belafonte, Jr) stuck in my head and visions of that dance scene from BEETLEJUICE...


DAAAAAYO!





Oh, EXPLETIVE!  I've watched the video, and now I'm suffering from the same fate. Serves me right.


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## Vladd67 (Jan 26, 2016)

beaten to it lol


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## Cat's Cradle (Jan 26, 2016)

The Bluestocking said:


> I often include some grated orange peel in my banana bread batter.



Holy Toledo, that sounds wonderful, TBS!


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