History of Bananas

Bananas originated in southeastern Asia. From India and Burma their cultivation spread westward and they were known in Assyria by 1100 B.C. Arabs brought them to Egypt in 650 A.D. In the 15th century, they were brought to the Canary Islands, and in the 16th, to the West Indies. In the 19th century, modern methods of plantation management and fast shipping were developed by United States businessmen, making possible a year-round supply of the fruit.

The banana belongs to the family Musaceae, which includes two genera. Most types of the common banana are varieties or cultivars of Musa acuminata or M. x paradisiaca. Plantains are also varieties of M. x paradisiaca. The flowering banana is M. coccinea; the Japanese, M. basjoo. Manila hemp is obtained from M. textilis. The Abyssinian banana is Ensete ventricosum.