From Plantation to the Home

The development of a banana plantation is a difficult task. After undergrowth is cleared and drainage ditches dug, the bits are planted. When a bunch of bananas is harvested, the trunk is cut down and allowed to decay, putting nutrients back into the soil. For good growth, bananas need fertile soil, plenty of water, and warm weather. They are easily destroyed by cold temperatures or by various diseases. Since the trunk is quite weak (it is 85 per cent water), high winds sometimes blow down all of the plants in a plantation. Efforts are being made to develop hybrid varieties that are disease- and wind-resistant.

Bananas are cut while they are still green, 13 to 15 months after the bit is planted. The least ripe bananas are selected for long-distance shipments. The cut bananas are generally carried by truck to loading platforms, then by rail to air-conditioned ships. From the receiving ports bananas are sent to wholesalers who ripen them in special rooms before delivering them to grocery stores.

As a banana ripens, it turns from green to yellow, and then develops brown specks, and eventually turns black and becomes inedible. If purchased green, the fruit should be ripened at about 70° F. (21° C.). A green-tipped banana should be cooked before it is eaten. An all-yellow one may be cooked or eaten raw. The brown-flecked fruit should be eaten raw.