Banana: Characteristics, Nutrition, Benefits And Varieties

Banana: Characteristics, Nutrition, Benefits And Varieties

A banana is a long-curve, eatable fruit cultivated worldwide and produced by two wild species – Musa Acuminata and Musa Balbisiana.

Characteristics of Banana

Bananas are long, curved fruits that can be 4 to 9 inches long and 1 to 3 inches in diameter. They are seedless, thickset berries with soft flesh rich in starch. Depending on the variety, their skin can be green, red, purple, or yellow.

The banana plant is a vast herb that pops up from an underground stem to a 3 to 6-meter trunk high. This trunk comprises the basal portions of leaf sheaths and is crowned with a rosette of 10 to 18 oblong to elliptic leaves that sometimes attain a length of 3 to 4 meters and a breadth of 65 cm. A large flower spike, carrying many yellowish flowers protected by large purple-red bracts, appears at the top of the trunk and bends downward to become bunches of 50 to 150 individual fruits.

Bananas Nutrients

Here are the nutrition facts for 100 grams of Banana. Source USDA

• Calories 89
• Total Fat 0.3 g
• Saturated fat 0.1 g
• Cholesterol 0 mg
• Sodium 1 mg
• Potassium 358 mg
• Carbohydrate 23 g
• Fiber 2.6 g
• Sugar 12 g
• Protein 1.1 g
• Vitamin C
• Iron 1%
• Vitamin B6
• Magnesium

Benefits of Bananas

Improve Sugar Level In Blood.

Bananas are rich in soluble fiber which helps in digestion, soluble fiber dissolves in liquid to form a gel and green bananas contain resistant starch, a type of fiber that the body does not digest. A combination of these two types of fiber may help moderate sugar levels in the blood after meals. However, for diabetic patients, eating a large amount of bananas in one sitting can cause high sugar levels in the blood, so it’s best to take one banana at a time.

Help In The Digestive System.

Dietary fiber has many health benefits, as well as improved digestion. Dietary fiber and probiotics are available in bananas and these two help in digestion.

Support Heart Health.

Bananas are the best source of potassium and magnesium, both minerals support heart health.

Banana Varieties

• Blue Java
• Red banana
• Cavendish banana
• Gros Michel
• Lady Finger banana
• Apple
• Plantain
• Burro banana
• Pisang raja
• Apple bananas
• Goldfinger banana
• Lady finger
• Cavendish
• Grand Nain
• Lacatan banana
• Dwarf Cavendish banana
• Fe’i banana
• Monthan
• Nendran
• Poovan
• Robusta
• Mysore banana
• Plantains
• Lakatan