# Banana

By [louis131420](https://paragraph.com/@louis131420) · 2021-10-29

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A **banana** is an elongated, edible [fruit](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fruit) – botanically a [berry](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berry_\(botany\))[\[1\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banana#cite_note-purdue1-1)[\[2\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banana#cite_note-Armstrong-2) – produced by several kinds of large [herbaceous](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herbaceous) [flowering plants](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flowering_plant) in the [genus](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genus) [_Musa_](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Musa_\(genus\)).[\[3\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banana#cite_note-MW-3) In some countries, [bananas used for cooking](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cooking_banana) may be called "plantains", distinguishing them from **dessert bananas**. The fruit is variable in size, color, and firmness, but is usually elongated and curved, with soft flesh rich in [starch](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starch) covered with a rind, which may be green, yellow, red, purple, or brown when ripe. The fruits grow in clusters hanging from the top of the plant. Almost all modern edible seedless ([parthenocarp](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parthenocarpy)) bananas come from two wild species – [_Musa acuminata_](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Musa_acuminata) and [_Musa balbisiana_](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Musa_balbisiana). The [scientific names](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Binomial_nomenclature) of most cultivated bananas are _Musa acuminata_, _Musa balbisiana_, and [_Musa_ × _paradisiaca_](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Musa_%C3%97_paradisiaca) for the hybrid _Musa acuminata_ × _M. balbisiana_, depending on their [genomic](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genome) constitution. The old scientific name for this hybrid, _Musa sapientum_, is no longer used.

_Musa_ species are native to tropical [Indomalaya](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indomalaya) and [Australia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australia_\(continent\)), and are likely to have been first domesticated in [Papua New Guinea](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Papua_New_Guinea).[\[4\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banana#cite_note-apscience-4)[\[5\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banana#cite_note-FOOTNOTENelsonPloetzKepler2006-5) They are grown in 135 countries,[\[6\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banana#cite_note-6) primarily for their fruit, and to a lesser extent to make [fiber](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiber), [banana wine](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banana_wine), and [banana beer](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banana_beer) and as [ornamental plants](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ornamental_plant). The world's largest producers of bananas in 2017 were India and China, which together accounted for approximately 38% of total production.[\[7\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banana#cite_note-7)

Worldwide, there is no sharp distinction between "bananas" and "plantains". Especially in the Americas and Europe, "banana" usually refers to soft, sweet, dessert bananas, particularly those of the [Cavendish group](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banana#Cavendish), which are the main exports from banana-growing countries. By contrast, [_Musa_ cultivars](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_banana_cultivars) with firmer, starchier fruit are called "plantains". In other regions, such as [Southeast Asia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southeast_Asia), many more kinds of banana are grown and eaten, so the binary distinction is not as useful and is not made in local languages.

The term "banana" is also used as the common name for the plants that produce the fruit.[\[3\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banana#cite_note-MW-3) This can extend to other members of the genus _Musa_, such as the [scarlet banana](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Musa_coccinea) (_Musa coccinea_), the [pink banana](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Musa_velutina) (_Musa velutina_), and the [Fe'i bananas](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fe%27i_banana). It can also refer to members of the genus [_Ensete_](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ensete), such as the [snow banana](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ensete_glaucum) (_Ensete glaucum_) and the economically important [false banana](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ensete_ventricosum) (_Ensete ventricosum_). Both genera are in the banana family, [Musaceae](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Musaceae).

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*Originally published on [louis131420](https://paragraph.com/@louis131420/banana)*