Banana’s Ancestors are a Mystery

It is believed that humans domesticated bananas for the first time 7,000 years ago on the island of New Guinea. However, the history of banana domestication is complicated, and the distinction between species and subspecies is often unclear.

A recently published study reveals that this history is significantly more complicated than previously imagined[1]. The findings show that the genomes of the current domesticated varieties include remnants from three extra, as of yet unidentified, ancestors.

“We show that most of today’s diploid cultivated bananas that descend from the wild banana Musa acuminata are hybrids between different subspecies. At least three extra wild ‘mystery ancestors’ must have contributed to this mixed genome thousands of years ago, but haven’t been identified yet,” said Dr. Julie Sardos, the study’s lead author.

Domesticated bananas (except for Fei bananas in the Pacific) are believed to have descended from a group of four ancestors, which were either subspecies of the wild banana Musa acuminata or different but closely related species. Before being domesticated, Musa acuminata existed in Australasia and seems to have developed on the northern borderlands between India and Myanmar about 10 million years ago. Another complication is that domesticated varieties may contain two (‘diploid’), three (‘triploid’), or even four (‘tetraploid’) copies of every chromosome, and many are derived from the wild species Musa balbisiana.

Recent smaller-scale studies suggested that other ancestors linked to Musa acuminata may have been involved in the domestication, suggesting that even this highly complicated scenario may not be the whole story. The latest findings not only validate this to be the case but also demonstrate for the first time that these gene pools are common in domesticated banana genomes.

The authors sequenced the DNA in 226 extracts leaf extracts. Among these samples, 68 belonged to nine wild subspecies of Musa acuminata, 154 to diploid domesticated varieties descended from Musa acuminata, and four more distantly related wild species and hybrids as comparisons. Many had previously been gathered in dedicated ‘banana collecting missions’ to Indonesia, the island of New Guinea, and Bougainville, an island which is part of Papua New Guinea.

The researchers first measured the levels of relatedness between cultivars and wild bananas and made “family trees” based on the diversity at 39,031 Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms (SNPs). They used a subset of these – evenly spread across the genome, with each pair demarcating a block of approximately 100,000 “DNA letters” – to statistically analyze the ancestry of each block. For the first time, they detected traces of three further ancestors in the genome of all domesticated samples, for which no matches are yet known from the wild.

The mystery ancestors might be long since extinct. “But our personal conviction is that they are still living somewhere in the wild, either poorly described by science or not described at all, in which case they are probably threatened,” said Sardos.

Genetic comparisons show that the first of these mystery ancestors must have come from the region between the Gulf of Thailand and west of the South China Sea. The second is from the region between north Borneo and the Philippines. The third, from the island of New Guinea.

[1] Sardos et al: Hybridization, missing wild ancestors and the domestication of cultivated diploid bananas in Frontiers in Plant Science - 2022. See here.

[Recensie] 'De Banaan' door Gert Kema, Fédes van Rijn, e.a.

De banaan is in gevaar en dat gevaar heeft hij voor een deel aan zichzelf te wijten, zo blijkt uit het boek 'De banaan'.

We beginnen met de oorzaak van het probleem. Het geslacht, Musa, waartoe alle soorten bananen behoren, is verwant aan tulpen en tarwe. Afhankelijk van degene die je vraagt zijn er 50 tot 70 verschillende soorten banaan binnen dat geslacht. De banaan is een kruid, want hij heeft geen officiële stam. Wat lijkt op die stam blijken slechts opgerolde bladstelen te zijn. De banaan zelf is, botanisch gezien, een bes.

De oorsprong van de banaan ligt mogelijk in Nieuw-Guinea. Daar groeide de stamvader van 'onze' banaan, een banaan die oneetbaar was door de grote hoeveelheid pitten die erin verstopt zaten. Door een toevallige mutatie ontstond een variëteit met minder pitten. Doordat de bewoners van Nieuw-Guinea deze banaan gingen verbouwen konden ze die tussenvorm zodanig selecteren dat uiteindelijk bananen ontstonden zonder pit. Maar zonder zaad is geen natuurlijke vermeerdering meer mogelijk. Die vermeerdering kan alleen plaatsvinden door het stekken van scheuten.

Nu, duizenden jaren later, zijn alle bananen, die we in de supermarkt kunnen kopen, geen broertjes of zusjes van elkaar, maar ze zijn genetisch allemaal hetzelfde. Iedere banaan is een kloon van zichzelf. Overal ter wereld worden dus precies dezelfde bananen geteeld in mono-cultuur. Dat is goed nieuws voor de handelaren, maar minder goed nieuws voor de banaan zelf.

Als één banaan namelijk kwetsbaar blijkt voor een bepaalde plantenziekte, dan zijn wereldwijd álle bananen kwetsbaar. Dat bleek al in de jaren 50 van de vorige eeuw toen de Gros Michel, 's werelds meest geteelde banaan, het slachtoffer werd van een bodemschimmel met de naam Fusarium Tropical Race 1 (TR1). De Gros Michel werd vervangen door de Cavendish, een variëteit die wél bestand was tegen de Fusarium TR1. Maar de natuur laat zich niet belemmeren door zo'n kleine tegenslag en al in 1997 moest men in Australië de eerste besmetting met de Fusarium Tropical Race 4 (TR4) melden. En weer is de banaan in gevaar. Grootschalige inzet van fungiciden bleek niet in staat om de verspreiding te stoppen en intussen is deze bodemschimmel al in alle werelddelen te vinden waar bananen worden geteeld. Wetenschappers proberen uit alle macht een oplossing te vinden.

En dat is niet alles: de banaan staat ook onder druk door de zwarte sigatokaziekte, een schimmelziekte die bananenplanten aantast en de bananenoogst tot de helft kan reduceren. Het is een zeer agressieve schimmel die in hoog tempo resistentie tegen fungiciden ontwikkelt en hierdoor zeer lastig te bestrijden is.

Maar er is hoop.

Het boek 'De banaan' geeft op een uiterst heldere manier inzicht in de complexe situatie waarin de banaan zich op dit moment bevindt. Het is een onmisbaar boek voor mensen die op welke manier dan ook betrokken zijn bij het probleem. Tevens is het zo leesbaar dat iedereen, die geïnteresseeerd is in het onderwerp, dit boek zou moeten aanschaffen.

'De banaan' is uitgegeven door Biowetenschappen en Maatschappij, telt 118 pagina's en is voor €12.50 te koop bij bol.com (hier) of bij uw plaatselijke boekhandel.

Radioactive bananas

Radioactive bananas. That doesn't sound good, doesn't it? What does this mean? Should we be afraid of glow-in-the-dark bananas?

Well, some foods do contain small amounts of radioactive elements. Food can gain this radioactivity in a couple of ways [1] Uptake: roots of plants take in radionuclides from the soil, [2] Deposition: radioactive particles in the air settle onto crops, or [3] Bioaccumulation: radionuclides accumulate in animals that ingest plants, feed, or water containing radioactive material.

Potassium-40 - the scientific notation is ⁴⁰K) - is a radioactive isotope of potassium which has a long half-life of 1.251×10⁹ years. It makes up 0.012% (120 ppm) of the total amount of potassium found in nature.

The most well known example of naturally-occurring radionuclides in foods are bananas. Bananas have naturally high-levels of potassium and, as I mentioned above, a small fraction of all potassium is radioactive. Each banana can emit .01 millirem (or 0.1 microsieverts) of radiation.

Is that worrysome, you may ask. No, because this is a very small amount of radiation. To put that in context, you would need to eat about 100 bananas to receive the same amount of radiation exposure as you get each day from natural radiation in the environment.

Besides, your body maintains its potassium balance by excreting potassium that has been ingested. Eating potassium rich food results in excretion of potassium, maintaining the body’s appropriate potassium equilibrium.

Abacá

A probably somewhat unexpected use of bananas is that of fibers.

Abaca (Musa textilis) is a species of banana that is native the Philippines. The plant can grow to some six meters in height, though is usually half of that. The fibers are extracted from the leaf-stems and these are also known as Manilla hemp.

The fiber was originally used for making twines and ropes;, however now it is mostly pulped and used in a variety of specialized paper products including tea bags, filter paper and even banknotes. It is classified as a hard fiber, along with coir, henequin and sisal.

It is still grown as a commercial crop in the Philippines, but has been transplanted to countries as far away as Ecuador and Costa Rica.

The earliest account on the use of abaca was written by Antonio Pigafetta (circa 1491-1534), an Italian chronicler and explorer who was part of the historic voyage of Magellan to the Philippines in 1521. According to his writings, indigenous Filipinos had already been wearing clothes made of abaca fiber when the Spaniards arrived on Philippine shores. Dutch tropical agricultural estates in Dutch East India, such as Handelsvereeniging Amsterdam (HVA), grew sugar, cassave, sisal, quinine, rubber, coffee, tea, and abaca.

Abacá still has great economic importance on The Philippines and is now the traditional source of lustrous fiber hand-loomed into various indigenous textiles in the Philippines like t'nalak, as well as colonial-era sheer luxury fabrics known as nipís. They are also the source of fibers for sinamáy, a loosely woven stiff material used for textiles as well as in traditional Philippine millinery.

The latest available numbers show that in 2008, the Philippines produced almost 68,000 tons of abaca fiber plus more than 18,000 tons of abaca pulp.

Research: Bananas with resistence to Fusarium TR4

A team at the University of Queensland is taking the next step in their search for a banana that has resistance against Panama disease. Led by Professor James Dale, they have already produced a genetically modified Cavendish that can stand up to tropical race 4 - the worst form of the soil-borne fungal disease[1].

Called Fusarium wilt or Panama disease, it is a devastating disease of bananas. In the first half of last century, it caused one of the most serious plant disease epidemics in history. During that period, Fusarium oxysporum cubense, the fungus responsible for Fusarium wilt, caused a major epidemic in commercial banana plantations in South and Central America in the then dominant export cultivar Gros Michel. This epidemic was caused by Fusarium TR1 and led to the almost complete replacement of Gros Michel with Cavendish, which is resistant to Fusarium TR1. Cavendish now accounts for more than 40% of world's banana production. Despite this, Fusarium TR1 continues to cause significant disease in a wide range of other locally produced and traded banana cultivars.

Fusarium invades through the roots and then causes extensive necrosis leading to plant death. The fungus is disseminated in infested soil, infected planting material and water including irrigation water and floods, and can remain in the soil for more than 40 years. In the early 1990s,a novel form of Fusarium was recognized in South East Asia, which differed from Fusarium TR1 in that it infects and kills Cavendish as well as a number of other important TR1-resistant cultivars. Fusarium TR4 now devastates Cavendish plantations around the world and continues to spread. Of the banana-producing continents, only the Americas have yet to record TR4.

There is no effective chemical control for Fusarium TR4. Although somaclonal variants of Giant Cavendish (Giant Cavendish Tissue Culture Variants (GCTCVs)) with varying levels of tolerance to TR4 have been generated in Taiwan through tissue culturing6, these are considered a short-term solution to disease control at best due to lack of immunity and undesirable agronomic traits7. The lack of effective TR4 control measures and the devastating impact of the disease make the deployment of resistance genes an obvious and attractive strategy.

Now scientists from the University of Queensland report the generation and field-trialling of transgenic Cavendish banana plants and the identification of lines with robust resistance to TR4.

Professor Dale said the field trials showed high expression of a gene derived from a wild banana provided resistance to TR4 disease. "Although (this gene) is also present in Cavendish it is not expressed." Gene snipping might fix that.

[1[ Dale et al: Transgenic Cavendish bananas with resistance to Fusarium wilt tropical race 4 in Nature Communications – 2021. See here.

Bananas vs. Energy Drinks during exercise

According to a scientific study bananas can refuel your body just as effectively as an energy drink[1].

In the study, 14 male athletes cycled a 75-km road race, during which they refuelled with either half a banana plus water, or a cup of energy drink, about every 15 minutes. Three weeks later, the athletes repeated the experiment but switched what they ate during the race.

The study concludes: BAN (banana) and CHO (carbohydrate drink) ingestion during 75-km cycling resulted in similar performance, blood glucose, inflammation, oxidative stress, and innate immune levels.

But the researchers also discovered that the bananas contained serotonin and dopamine, which seemed to improve the body’s antioxidant capacity and help with oxidative stress.

“The banana, we think, is like this wonderful athletic package where you get the sugars you need, you get the vitamins and electrolytes that the body likes during exercise, and this very unique molecule dopamine that can help with the oxidative stress, all at one third the cost of energy drinks,” lead-author professor Nieman says.

The only thing that worries me a bit is the fact that the study was paid for by Dole, a leading banana producer. Nieman says he receives no compensation from the company. “All I care about is the scientific truth,” he says.

[1] Nieman et al: Bananas as an Energy Source during Exercise: A Metabolomics Approach in PloS One – 2012. See here.

Panama Disease TR4 arrives in the Americas

A fungus that has wreaked havoc on banana plantations in the Eastern Hemisphere has, despite years of preventative efforts, arrived in the Americas.

In August 2019, authorities in Colombia confirmed that laboratory tests have positively identified the presence of so-called Panama disease Tropical Race 4 – or TR4- on banana farms in the Caribbean coastal region. The announcement was accompanied by a declaration of a national state of emergency.

The discovery of the fungus represents a potential disaster for bananas as both a food source and an export commodity. Panama disease TR4 is an infection of the banana plant by a fungus of the genus Fusarium. Although bananas produced in infected soil are not unsafe for humans, infected plants eventually stop bearing fruit.

First identified in Taiwanese soil samples in the early 1990s, the destructive fungus remained long confined to Southeast Asia and Australia, until its presence was confirmed in both the Middle East and Africa in 2013. Experts feared an eventual appearance in Latin America, the epicenter of the global banana export industry.

"Once you see it, it is too late, and it has likely already spread outside that zone without recognition," says Gert Kema from Wageningen University in the Netherlands, whose lab analyzed soil samples to confirm TR4 in Colombia, as well as in earlier outbreaks.

No known fungicide or biocontrol measure has proven effective against TR4. "As far as I know, everybody is doing a good job in terms of containment, but eradication is almost impossible," says Fernando García-Bastidas, a Colombian phytopathologist.

Banana agriculture is itself partly to blame for the potential of the fungus to spread. Commercial plantations grow almost exclusively one clonal variety, called the Cavendish; these monocultural plants’ identical genetics mean they are also identically susceptible to disease. The practice of growing crops with limited genetic diversity aids in cheap and efficient commercial agriculture and marketing, but it leaves food systems dangerously vulnerable to disease epidemics.

Consumers in importer nations like the United States might eventually be disheartened to see higher prices and scarcer stocks of bananas for their toast and smoothies, but they’ll survive. For millions in Latin America, the Caribbean, Africa, and Asia, however, bananas are a fundamental source of nutrition.

A noteworthy banana: Blue Java

Blue Java bananas are a hybrid between Musa acuminata and Musa balbisiana, which means that botanists should tell you that the accepted scientific biominal name is Musa acuminata x Musa balbisiana 'Blue Java'.

The Blue Javas originated, as all bananas do, in Southeast Asia and are now widely spread throughout the Hawaiian islands in the Pacific. Unlike most tropical fruit trees, they can withstand temperatures as low as minus 10^oC, which means they would be able to withstand the winters in the temperate zones of the earth. I would however advice you to grow them in pots and move them indoors if the winter turns out to be especially harsh.

The fruit bunches of the Blue Java are small, bearing seven to nine hands. The fruit are up to 20 centimeters in length and exhibit a characteristic silvery blue colour when unripe. The fruit turns a pale yellow when ripe, with white creamy flesh.

Blue Javas have a sweet aromatic flavour reminiscent of vanilla, which is why the Blue Java is also known as Ice Cream banana. Other names you might encounter are Hawaiian banana, Ney Mannan, Krie or Cenizo.

In addition to bearing amazing fruit, Blue Javas make beautiful ornamentals, with large red flowers and its silvery blue leaves. The plant may reach six meters in height.

Bananas with higher levels of Vitamin A and Iron

Uganda is a tropical country with over 30 million inhabitants, 80% of them are living in rural areas. Bananas are a staple food for the locals and East African Highland Bananas are the main source of starch.

Unluckily, these bananas have a low vitamin A and iron content, meaning banana-based diets are low in these micro-nutrients, resulting in inadequate nutrition that manifests itself as high levels of vitamin A deficiency, iron deficiency anemia, and stunting in children which can lad to Vitamin A Deficiency.

Vitamin A Deficiency causes a number of disorders including night and total blindness, premature death and reduced immunity leading to increased risk of childhood infections and high infant mortality.

Funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, a project known as Banana21 was set up in 2005 to reduce micro-nutrient deficiencies in Uganda and nearby countries through the creation of edible bananas with superior levels of vitamin A and iron. A genetic modification approach was adopted[1].

Ever since the beginning, the Banana21 project tried to develop East African Highland Bananas with vitamin A levels that could supply 50% of the daily intake for 300 g/per person per day. According to results obtained so far, it's highly likely that the transgenic ranged developed thanks to the Banana21 project will be released by 2021. The M9 range, which is also resistant to the Black Sigatoka disease, will have a bigger impact in plain areas, while Nakitembe will be more suitable for plateau areas.

In this areas, bananas are important on both a cultural and food safety level. Combined with low-cost distribution and managed by producers, these Golden bananas could be an effective strategy to reduce problems connected to vitamin A deficiency over the next decade.

[1] Jean-Yves Paul et al: Banana21: From Gene Discovery to Deregulated Golden Bananas in Frontiers in Plant Science – 201. See here.

Banana fungus renamed. Or not?

The causal agent of black leaf streak (also known as black Sigatoka) in bananas was a fungus called Mycosphaerella fijiensis. The species has recently been renamed to Pseudocercospora fijiensis. Those familiar with the pathogen will recognize the new name as the (old) name of its asexual form (Mycosphaerella fijiensis was the name of its sexual form). What changed is that the nomenclature system has finally caught up with biology and no longer allows the coexistence of separate names for the sexual and asexual forms[1].

[Spore-producing hyphea of Pseudocercospora fijiensis]

Like many of the fungi that cause disease in plants, the causal agent of black leaf streak is a pleomorphic fungus, meaning that it occurs in various distinct forms. In this case, the fungus has both a sexual state (teleomorph) and an asexual one (anamorph).

The practice of giving separate names to the different forms of pleomorphic fungi has been debated since the middle of the 19th century. In 2011, the Amsterdam Declaration on Fungal Nomenclature made the case for an orderly transition to a single-name nomenclature system. Soon after, the one fungus, one name principle was codified in the International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants (Melbourne code).

One consequence of the unravelling of the Mycosphaerella genus is that Pseudocercospora is now recognized as a genus in its own right. In addition to Pseudocercospora fijiensis, the genus also includes the other primary causal agents in the so-called Sigatoka disease complex. These species changed genus because they have Mycosphaerella-like teleomorphs. The Mycosphaerella genus is now restricted to species that have real Mycosphaerella teleomorphs and its name will be changed to Ramularia.

Nothing is ever easy in the world of fungi.

[1] Crous: Global food and fibre security threatened by current inefficiencies in fungal identification in Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London - 2016

Cameroon: Climate change puts banana production at risk

Although a number of recent studies suggest that migration flows associated with the impact of climate change on agriculture are affecting both the social and economic systems, very few studies have been carried out on the matter in Africa. They would be very useful especially in Central Africa, where the impact of climate change is expected to be significant and, most of all, will take place in an area with low adaptive capacity.

"We focused on banana plantations (Musa paradisiaca), one of the main sources of income in Cameroon, to assess whether recent changes have led to a drop in production[1]. Analyses of annual temperatures between 1950 and 2013 showed an increase of 0.8°C, a trend also confirmed in the monthly temperatures of the past 20 years. Between 1991 and 2011, a 43% drop in the productivity of central Africa plantations was observed," explained Trevon Fuller from the University of California (USA).

This can cause both a reduction of rural wealth as well as a drop in family investments on education. Over the past two decades, there was a six month decrease in the duration of school attendance which was tightly linked with plantation yields. By 2080, the average annual temperatures is expected to increase by at least 2°C in Central Africa, and models have predicted a concomitant reduction of 39% in production and 51% in education compared to the 1991 baseline.

"These forecasts should be considered as a call-to-action for the development of policies such as farmer training programs to improve the adaptive capacity of food production systems to mitigate the impact on rural wealth and education as well as genetic improvement and varietal selection programs to mitigate the impact of climate change on crop productivity."

[1] Fuller et al: Climate warming causes declines in crop yields and lowers school attendance rates in Central Africa in Science of The Total Environment - 2018

This Dog is Bananas

SunButter is a wholesome and delicious sunflower butter. Made from US grown and roasted sunflower seeds and simple ingredients, SunButter has 7g of protein per serving and more vitamins and minerals than nut butter. SunButter is free from all of the top 8 food allergens including peanuts.

Download the SunButter® Food Service 35-page Recipe Book here.

Are bananas gluten-free?

Bananas contain a protein called lectin, which is also found in many of the 'night shade' foods, such as potato, tomato and chilipepper, that some people with celiac or gluten intolerance have trouble with. Lectin is somewhat similar to gluten and can create an autoimmune response. This is due to the body confusing lectin with gluten. Some researchers even speculate that gluten sensitivity is actually a lectin allergy that was previously unknown. Yeah right, but suppose a gluten sensitivity is actually related to a latex allergy[1].

Approximately 30-50% of individuals who are allergic to natural rubber latex show an associated hypersensitivity to some plant-derived foods, especially freshly consumed fruits. This association of latex allergy and allergy to plant-derived foods is called latex-fruit syndrome. An increasing number of plant sources, such as avocado, banana, chestnut, kiwi, peach, tomato, potato and chilipepper, have been associated with this syndrome.

Bananas also contain a protein called chitinase that requires a specific enzyme to break down once it has been consumed. If this protein is not broken down it can cause severe abdominal pain and other gastrointestinal discomfort. Often if someone with Celiac Disease is not healed, meaning that their intestinal system is not in tact due to ingesting gluten, the enzyme needed to break down the protein can be lost.

In addition to the gastrointestinal symptoms some people experience flushing of skin, headaches, heart palpitations, rash on the skin, and numbness or tingling of the mouth. These symptoms can occur as quickly as moments after consuming food that contains lectin or chitinase or as much as a few hours. Just like lectin, chitinase can also trigger an autoimmune response, because the body sometimes mistakes it for a pathogen.

[1] Wagner: The latex-fruit syndrome in Biochemical Society Transactions - 2002

Why Do Bananas Turn Brown?

The life cycle of a banana is a colourful one: it starts with a deep green, then changes to a delicious yellow and ends (if it’s not eaten beforehand) at an unappetizing brown. But what causes this colour change and what makes a banana go from green all the way to the dark side?

Bananas, like most fruits, produce and react with an airborne hormone called ethylene that helps to signal the ripening process. The ethylene breaks down complex sugars into simple sugars and breaks down pectin, a substance which keeps bananas hard. Thus, a fruit that is unripened is hard, is more acidic than it is sugary and likely has a greenish hue due to the presence of chlorophyll, a molecule found in plants that is important in photosynthesis.

When a fruit comes into contact with ethylene gas, the acids in the fruit start to break down, it becomes softer and the green chlorophyll pigments are broken up and replaced—in the case of bananas, with a yellow hue. The loss of the acidic taste and hardened interior means a sweeter and mushier fruit that is perfect for consumption.

However, unlike most fruits, which generate only a tiny amount of ethylene as they ripen, bananas produce a large amount. While a banana in the beginning of the ripening process might become sweeter and turn yellow, it will eventually overripen by producing too much of its own ethylene.

High amounts of ethylene cause the yellow pigments in bananas to decay into those characteristic brown spots in a process called enzymatic browning. This natural browning process is also observed when fruits become bruised. A damaged or bruised banana will produce an even higher amount of ethylene, ripening (and browning) faster than if undamaged. But if the fruit is subjected to its own gaseous prison for too long, it will ripen itself all the way to rot.

Sumitomo to buy banana company Fyffes

Irish fruit distributor Fyffes has agreed to be bought by Japan's Sumitomo in a €751m deal.

Fyffes produces, ships, ripens and distributes bananas, melons, pineapples and mushrooms. The firm, which has its headquarters in Dublin, employs more than 17,000 people worldwide and has an annual turnover of €1.2bn.

The Japanese company said it would pay €2.23 euro per share, representing a 49% premium on Fyffe's closing price on Thursday. The Irish firm has recommended the deal to shareholders and said 27% had backed it, which also means that the deal can still fail.

Sumitomo supplies about one in three bananas sold in Japan after first entering the market in the 1960s.


David McCann, chairman of Fyffes, says: "We believe this transaction represents a compelling proposition for our shareholders and crystallises the substantial value created in recent years through the various strategic developments and the strong operating performance."

Sumitomo said it was drawn to Fyffes' "strong position" in complementary markets and promised to invest further in the business. "We look forward to working with the Fyffes team to further develop the business over the longer-term and to expanding into new markets," said Hirohiko Imura, managing executive officer.

[Hoax] Banana contains psychoactive substance

Musa sapientus banadine or bananadine is a fictional psychoactive substance which is supposedly extracted from banana peels. A hoax recipe for its 'extraction' from banana peel was originally published in the Berkeley Barb in March 1967.

The recipe tells us that the substance is easy to extrahate: you peel a couple of bananas, scrape the inside of the peels with a knife and cook the scrapings for about three to four hours in water until it forms a thickish paste. Then you have to dry the paste in an oven until it turns black. Powder the end result and it can be added to your tobacco. You might experience the first effects after three cigarettes.

Folklore tells us that inmates in American prisons produce LSD-like substances by drying the banana peels and getting high on the natural drugs that would result from these peels. But it is all a hoax. The 'discovery' of bananadine happened just at a time when marijuana was decided to be made illegal and users of marijuana were searching for a legal substitute.

Already in November 1967, researchers at New York University found that banana peel contains no intoxicating chemicals, and that smoking it produces only a placebo effect.

Nonetheless, bananadine became more widely known when William Powell, believing the Berkeley Barb article to be true, reproduced the method in The Anarchist Cookbook in 1970, under the name 'Musa sapientum Bananadine' (referring to the banana's old binomial nomenclature).

Powell later tried to distance himself from his 'The Anarchist Cookbook' by saying: 'It was written during 1968 and part of 1969 soon after I graduated from high school. At the time, I was 19 years old and the Vietnam War and the so-called 'counter culture movement' were at their height. … The book, in many respects, was a misguided product of my adolescent anger at the prospect of being drafted and sent to Vietnam'.

Bananas and Black Sigatoka

Banana production is threatened by various fungi. One of them, Pseudocercospora fijiensis, causes the feared black Sigatoka disease. The fungus is air-borne and occurs worldwide. It affects the leaves of banana plants in all sorts of plantations and results in huge yield losses. The disease also reduces the quality of the fruit, causing premature ripening. The bananas can then no longer be exported and growers lose their income. The Cavendish banana, the most commonly grown banana variety worldwide, is especially susceptible to the black Sigatoka fungus.

Farmers, who can financially afford it, use fungicides or crop protection products to manage black Sigatoka. The effectiveness of these products often quickly reduces, which means that most commercial plantations have to spray increasingly often – over 50 times a year is becoming a common practice. This has a major impact on the environment of the plantations and costs the banana sector some 400 million dollars a year.

Scientists from Wageningen University (The Netherlands) have now unravelled the DNA of Pseudocercospora fijiensis. Gert Kema, Professor at Wageningen University said: “Thanks to the sequencing of the DNA of the Pseudocercospora fungus we are now gaining a greater insight into the interaction between the fungus and the banana plant. This provides us with leads for increasing the sustainability of banana cultivation. For example, the insights offer us opportunities to develop a banana plant that is suitable for production and export, and which is also resistant against black Sigatoka.”

This fresh understanding of the DNA of the black Sigatoka fungus is also providing new information that is useful in the development of more effective and, hopefully, less environmentally unfriendly crop protection products. This could reduce the amount of spraying which, in turn, would improve the quality of life of the people working in the plantations and those who live in the immediate surroundings.

The research has helped identify the segment of DNA of the fungus that forms the basis for a so-called effector: a substance in the fungus that generates a resistance reaction in the wild banana variety Calcutta 4[1]. This wild banana has a receptor which recognizes the fungal substance. In other words, thanks to the receptor the wild banana plant ‘knows’ when it is being attacked and then encapsulates the fungus, preventing the leaves from being colonized further.

The scientists also discovered that tomato plants recognize the substance of the black Sigatoka fungus via a receptor[2]. The wild Calcutta 4 banana and the tomato apparently resemble each other genetically in this regard. A great deal is already known about the tomato receptor, and the gene for the receptor is also available. It would be relatively simple to build these tomato genes into the DNA of banana in order to develop resistant banana plants.

[1] Arango Isaza et al: Combating a Global Threat to a Clonal Crop: Banana Black Sigatoka Pathogen Pseudocercospora fijiensis (Synonym Mycosphaerella fijiensis) Genomes Reveal Clues for Disease Control in PLoSGenetic 2016 
[2] Stergiopoulos et al: Tomato Cf resistance proteins mediate recognition of cognate homologous effectors from fungi pathogenic on dicots and monocots in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA - 2010

Banana flour

An Australian family business has gone bananas after they accidentally discovered a new super food.

For many years Rob Watkins and his family were among the largest banana growers in Australia, specializing in a variety known as Lady Fingers. This variety requires 25-30% more labour to grow than ordinary Cavendish bananas and also has a reduction of 50% less plants per acre due to their height. But week after week Rob would find himself disposing tonnes of beautiful Lady Fingers because they were too big, too straight or too bendy for the supermarket giants. The fruit was perfectly good for eating and packed full of nutrients, but the only species that would flock to the area were local wallabies and cattle. They were eating as many green Lady Fingers their tummies could handle.

Second generation farmer Rob Watkins noticed a dusty substance rise in the setting sun’s rays when he accidentally drove over a cluster of lady finger bananas at the family’s plantation some six years ago. After some experimentation, he and wife Krista produced a small batch of green banana flour and started selling it as a gluten-free alternative through a local cafe.

Orders began pouring in and now the couple’s Natural Evolution business is turning out five tonnes a week from a plant on their property, most of it for export to Japan and Europe.Demand has grown so strongly their 320-hectare property is at capacity and they are bringing in extra bananas from other growers. It has provided a profitable potential for the 500 tonnes of bananas dumped every week in Australia because they are the wrong size or shape for supermarkets.

It can replace other flours for sweet or savoury use. High in vitamins and minerals including magnesium, potassium and vitamin E, it has a wide range of nutritional benefits including high resistant starch content which can strengthen the immune system, speed up metabolism for weight loss, lower cholesterol and help prevent diabetes[1].

[1] De Silva et al: Women with metabolic syndrome improve antrophometric and biochemical parameters with green banana flour consumption in Nutrición Hospitalaria - 2014

Bananas might prevent blindness

Researchers recently published a study, which demonstrates new insights on how bananas make and store carotenoides[1]. Carotenoids which are found at various levels in different banana cultivars, are a important precursors for Vitamin A, which in turn promotes eye health. Their findings could someday help in the development of banana varieties with enhanced health benefits.

Vitamin A deficiency is widespread in Africa and Southeast Asia, causing an estimated 250,000 to 500,000 children to become permanently blind each year, the researchers note. Even worse, half of those children die within a year of losing their sight[2].

To combat vitamin A deficiency, other researchers have been investigating methods to boost carotenoids in bananas, because these compounds—which turn fruits and vegetables red, orange or yellow—are converted into vitamin A in the liver. However, this approach has been hindered by a lack of understanding of how bananas produce and store carotenoids.

The researchers studied two banana varieties to find out why they make very different amounts of carotenoids. They found that the pale yellow, low-carotenoid Cavendish variety produces more of an enzyme, carotenoid cleavage dioxygenase 4 (CCD4), that breaks down carotenoids.

In addition, the orange Fe'i group Musa cultivar Asupina stashes its carotenoids in microscopic sacs during ripening, shifting the chemical equilibrium in the fruit so it can make even higher levels of these substances. The researchers say their work will provide insights for future developments in the biofortification and breeding of bananas that contain higher levels of carotenoids.

[1] Buah et al: The Quest for Golden Bananas: Investigating Carotenoid Regulation in a Fe'i Group Musa Cultivar in Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry – 2016 
[2] Nutritional Anemia: Edited by Klaus Krämer, Michael B. Zimmermann – 2007

The Origin of Bananas

[Source: Anne Vézina]

'Where our bananas come from' (1962) was published in the 'New Scientist magazine'. In it, Norman Simmonds wrote that to answer the question on where cultivated varieties of banana come from, “we must go back to Malaysia several thousand years ago, for it was there that men took the first decisive steps in converting the inedible, wild, seedy bananas of the jungles into the lush, parthenocarpic and sterile fruit that we know today”.

Nobody denies that Southeast Asia is a centre of domestication of banana. It’s just that Simmonds should have known better, if only because a few years earlier he had been in a collecting mission to Southeast Asia and the Pacific. During that trip, he visited what is now Papua New Guinea, where he observed a diversity of bananas he had not seen anywhere else. The unusual thing about these edible bananas is that like their wild ancestors they have two sets of chromosomes (diploids)[1], as opposed to the three sets of chromosomes (triploids) found in most cultivated bananas. Because in Asia edible diploids had been largely displaced by the more productive triploids they had given rise to, Simmonds assumed that the diploids he saw in Papua New Guinea had been introduced from Southeast Asia early in the domestication process and had owed their survival to the late arrival of triploid bananas. Except for the unusual Fei bananas – which Simmonds recognized as having been domesticated in the Pacific because their wild ancestor(s) are not found elsewhere – he could not imagine that bananas tracing their origin to Musa acuminata alone, or hybridized with Musa balbisiana, had been domesticated outside Asia.

Subsequent genetic analyses and the discovery of 7,000-year-old banana phytoliths[2] at Kuk Swamp in the highlands of Papua New Guinea, now a UNESCO World Heritage Site, proved Simmonds wrong. New Guinea and nearby islands, including the Solomon Islands, are definitely centres of domestication of banana.

Analysing the genetic make-up of hundreds of banana cultivars revealed that more than one subspecies of Musa acuminata have been implicated in the domestication of bananas. Since these subspecies occupy distinct geographic regions, different subspecies at various stages of domestication must have been moved around in order to come into contact and hybridize. It means that the meeting of Malaysian and New Guinean bananas, among others, was facilitated by people sharing genetic resources.

Starting 2,000 to 4,000 of years ago, the ancestors of Plantains and East African highland bananas went west to Africa, where they continued to diversify, making Africa a secondary centre of diversity. In the other direction, many of the New Guinean bananas were taken east by seafarers, eventually landing in Hawaii. And maybe South America, but that’s another story.

[1] Humans also have two sets of chromosomes, one inherited from the mother and the the other from the father
[2] Phytoliths are microscopic stones made of silica that form in plant cells and are used as archaeological markers for plants that, like domesticated bananas, do not produce seeds and pollen. To see what they look like, See here.

Cypriot Bananas

The de facto division of the island in 1974 left the Turkish Cypriot community in the north in possession of agricultural resources that produced about four-fifths of the citrus and cereal crops, two-thirds of the green fodder, and all of the tobacco. The south retained nearly all of the island's grapegrowing areas and deciduous fruit orchards. The south also possessed lands producing roughly three-fourths of the valuable potato crop and other vegetables (excluding carrots), half the island's olive trees, and two-thirds of its carob trees.

The climate on Cyprus and neighbouring Greek islands like Crete is perfectly suited for growing bananas. Bananas grow rather unruly on pretty much the whole of island Cyprus, but are grown primarily on banana plantations around Paphos on the southwest coast of Cyprus and the Güzelyurt area in Turkish Cypriot territory.

They stretch along the coast up to the mountains. All products are supplied to the domestic market and have good demand. It has been found that the young banana leaves can help to heal burns and wounds.

Most of the harvest is destined for Cypriot consumers. Smugling cheaper South-American bananas to Cyprus via northern Turkish-Cyprus is rife.

Van Rees participates in the Malawi Tea Revitalisation Programme 2020

Van Rees Tea, part of Acomo, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) and thereby declared their intentions to support the Malawi Tea Revitalisation Programme 2020. This large-scale industry programme has the objective to achieve a competitive industry where workers earn a higher living wage and smallholders are thriving.

Malawi is an important tea origin for Van Rees and have had an office there since the early 1970s. Currently Van Rees is one of the main buyers of Malawi tea in the weekly auction. The tea from Malawi provides a livelihood for the many tea workers, smallholders and their families. Various companies in the tea industry have acknowledged that the living wages in Malawi are relatively low and strive to act on it.

Managing Director of Van Rees Group, Maarten Obbink, stated that this ambitious programme is broadly supported and hence an opportunity for the industry to really achieve an impact. Every company has its own role in the supply chain and they have to work together to make it a success.

Van Rees believes that only an industry that creates value for all its actors will remain successful in the future and hence will be truly sustainable.

A noteworthy banana: Karat

The Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) is an island nation in the Pacific made up of four states: Yap, Chuuk, Pohnpei and Kosrae. Pohnpei has a rich diversity of bananas, estimated at some 50 cultivars[1].

However, its main claim to fame is the nutritional value of the orange-fleshed bananas, many of which belong to a group of unusual bananas called Fe’i. Fei bananas are believed to originate in the New Guinea area but have been found from the Molluccas, in Indonesia, to Tahiti in the east.

Karat bananas

When American nutritionist Lois Englberger moved to Pohnpei in 1997, conditions related to vitamin A deficiency (VAD) had started to emerge in children. To help alleviate the problem, brought about by the consumption of nutrient-poor imported foods, she went on a search for local foods that used to protect islanders against VAD. Acting on information that Karat bananas used to be a traditional infant food, Englberger and her colleagues found that they are rich in beta-carotene, which the body converts into vitamin A.

Since then, Karat bananas have been at the forefront of campaigns led by the Island Food Community of Pohnpei (IFCP).

[1] Daniells et all: Pohnpei banana varieties - a work in progress. See here.

Bananas and Climate Change

Climate change cannot be denied anymore (although some silly scientists and politicians still do) and it will have a profound effect on bananas. Grown throughout the tropics and subtropics, bananas are a key source of food, nutrition and income for millions of rural and urban households.

They are a staple crop in many countries. In some countries in central Africa, people consume up to 11 bananas per day and in Uganda, the local word for bananas – matooke – means food.

So, what will happen if temperatures keep rising, rainfall will become increasingly erratic and the levels of CO2 keep accelerating at the same pace as it does now?

Especially in the tropical regions, yields of certain crops will decline, but the banana may be lucky. Research shows that by 2070 land area suitable for bananas will increase by 50%. Increasing annual temperatures will make conditions more favourable for banana production in the subtropics and in tropical highlands[1].

So with higher temperatures bananas could be grown in more areas. But these higher temperatures mean an increase in water demand, which is projected to increase by 12-15%. And higher temperatures may also threaten those crops, such as coffee, that are often grown with bananas. Farmers who grow banana as a secondary crop, may abandon banana when climate change makes coffee cultivation less viable.

Which suggests that all is not well for the banana.

[1] Climate Change and Food Systems: Global assessments and implications for food security and trade (Edited by Aziz Elbehri) - 2015. Downloadable here.

Banana Freckle Disease

Banana Freckle Disease is caused by a fungus that has two distinct forms (and names): Guignardia musae (telomorph) or Phyllosticta musarum (anamorph). Banana Freckle Disease infects the leaves and fruits of bananas. There are several different strains of the fungus that are able to infect different banana varieties around the globe.

Like, Panama Disease/TR4, it is entirely possible that each strain of the fungus has evolved to live symbiotically with a specific variety of a banana in a specific environment. Transplant a variety to another country or continent and the Banana Freckle Disease will show its evil face. Transplant another variety to a plantation that seems free of infection and the Banana Freckle Disease will erupt to destroy a crop. In the absence of chemical control, there is about a 80% yield loss.

Symptoms of the Banana Freckle Disease include yellowing of the tissue and formation of small dark brown spots on the leaves and fruit. Within the spots, traces of the fungus can be spotted. The most characteristic symptom of Banana Freckle is a sandpaper feel to the infected (spotted) leaves and fruit when rubbed between your fingers. Banana Freckle is easily propagated and spread from plant to plant via water droplets and movement of infected tissue or fruit.

Management of the disease consist of cutting out infected leaves, the paper bag method, fungicide application, and proper sanitation techniques. This devastating disease is extremely relevant for the major banana exporting countries of the world. Banana Freckle disease needs to be carefully monitored in order to prevent further spread of the disease.

Australia is trying to eradicate the Banana Freckle Disease by destroying all infected banana 'trees'.

More information about the Autralian initiative can be found here.

Banana Xanthomonas Wilt Resistant Bananas

Banana Xanthomonas Wilt (BXW) is also known as banana bacterial wilt (BBW) or enset wilt. It is a bacterial disease caused by Xanthomonas campestris and it is one of the most devastating diseases that can attack a banana.

After being originally identified on a close relative of banana, Ensete ventricosum, in Ethiopia in the 1960s, Banana Xanthomonas Wilt appeared in Uganda in 2001 affecting all types of banana cultivars. Since then Banana Xanthomonas Wilt has been diagnosed in Central and East Africa including banana growing regions of Rwanda, Congo, Tanzania, Kenya, Burundi, and Uganda. This wilt attacks all cultivars of banana causing up to $2.2 billion estimated annual loss.

A bacterial ooze is excreted from the plant organs and this is a tell-tale sign that Banana Xanthomonas Wilt may be present. Common symptoms on the fruit include a yellow-orange internal discoloration and premature ripening of the fruit. Other symptoms include a gradual wilting and yellowing of the leaves plus wilting of the bracts and shriveling of the male buds.

[Image: blog.plantwise.org]

The spread of Banana Xanthomonas Wilt threatens the livelihood of millions of African farmers who depend on banana for food security and income. There are no commercial chemicals, biocontrol agents or resistant cultivars available to control Banana Xanthomonas Wilt.

The development of disease resistant banana cultivars remains a high priority and scientists have tried to insert genes from foodstuffs that have shown resistance to Banana Xanthomonas Wilt. Now, a banana, infused with plant ferredoxin-like amphipathic protein (Pflp)[1] or hypersensitive response-assisting protein (Hrap)[2] from green pepper, have exhibited strong resistance to Banana Xanthomonas Wilt in both laboratory and screenhouses. The Hrap and Pflp genes work by rapidly killing the cells that come into contact with the disease-spreading bacteria, essentially blocking it from spreading any further. The mechanism, known as Hypersensitivity Response, also activates the defense of adjacent and even distant uninfected plants leading to a systemic acquired resistance.

Field trials are now being held.

[1] Namykwaya et al: Transgenic banana expressing Pflp gene confers enhanced resistance to Xanthomonas wilt disease in Transgenic Research - 2012
[2] Tripathi et al: Expression of sweet pepper Hrap gene in banana enhances resistance to Xanthomonas campestris pv. musacearum in Molecular Plant Pathology - 2010

What is in an all-natural banana?

Some banana cultivars in Indonesia show Panama disease resistance

During the summer of 2014, samples were collected of Bananas affected by Panama disease on three different islands. Research by Nani Maryani, PhD student at Wageningen University, focussed on areas surrounding the rain forest for infected banana plants. They collect parts of the banana corn, the leaf and soil samples for analyses.

Interestingly, the researchers identified some cultivated bananas among the huge banana diversity they have observed during the sampling expedition that are seemingly resistant to Panama disease in Indonesia.

Pisang Klutuk Wulung

These include Pisang Klutuk (Musa balbisiana) and Pisang Mahuli that were never affected throughout the expedition at various geographical sites. In addition, various indigenous wild banana species such as Musa bornensis, Musa acuminata var. Falava and Musa acuminata var. bantamensis were also found resistant in wild forest habitats.

These species and varieties will undergo in-depth analyses in further laboratory experiments in Indonesia and Wageningen.

Feel free to contact Nani about her PhD project and on-going work here.

Bananas and your Mind

Sometimes people selfmedicate. I personally have friends who take speed to calm down. From a medical perspective that makes sense, because it is practically the same molecule as methylphenidate (or ritalin). Others use (or misuse) products to forget, but even that can help to prevent or mediate (the effects of) a depression.

Now, scientific research has been published that suggests that creative people sometimes comsume certain foodstuffs to counter writersblock or simply overcome another type of temporary lack of inspiration.

The researchers tried to understand whether creativity is enhanced by the amino acid L-tyrosine, a known precursor of the neurotransmitter dopamine. The more dopamine, the more brain activity one should expect to see and the higher the level of creativity could be, so the scientists thought.

In the end, there appeared to be no evidence that L-tyrosine had positive effects on divergent (creative) thinking or, as scientists like to tell you: brainstorming. But it did result in an marked improvement in the convergent (analytical) thinking. Because convergent thinking needs more (mental) energy, researchers suggest that the L-tyrosine supports this process[1].

Now, of course, you think that you should dash to the nearest drugstore and buy yourself a jar of L-tyrosine. But no, that is not necessary at all, because L-tyrosine is simply one of the 22 amino acids that your body needs and it hides itself in a lot of common foods, such as chicken, fish, milk, cheese, peanuts, avocados and - yes - bananas.

Which means that, if you will have a difficult meeting with your boss (or your subordinates), you’ll simply need to consume a banana before the meeting.

[1] Colzato et al: Food for creativity: tyrosine promotes deep thinking in Psychological Research - 2014

Chinese banana harvest destroyed by typhoon

Authorities in Nanning town, in the Zhuang du Guangxi region are trying to save some part of this year's banana harvest that has been severely damaged by typhoon Rammasun.

On Tuesday July 22, 2014, over 1.6 million banana trees in Tanluo were knocked over by the storm, with financial loss at over 58 million Yuans, which is about € 7 million. The Mayor of the town, Wei Shiguo, took part in the volunteer action to save damaged banana trees. Local authorities have been in contact with banks to offer loans to the banana producers that are victims of the typhoon.

“This financial support will allow them to restart a plantation and actively revive their agricultural work’’ underlined Wei.

Bananas are one of the most important agricultural products in the region. Tanluo used to be know as “the banana town’’.

Storm creates havoc in Bananas

Last week storms and heavy rains affected around 15000 hectares of banana plantations in the Northern Colombian Uraba region. According to official sources, more than 4000 hectares of banana trees were utterly destroyed.

A week later, all other banana countries in Latin America already felt increased demand due to these problems with the banana production in Colombia. For example, in Ecuador, the price has increased by 1.5-2.0 USD compared to the previous week.

Analysts expect that in the nearest half of the year, Colombia will sustain a loss of around 4 million boxes of banana.

Right now producers are hoping for government support in this issue in order to recover the nations banana industry.

Bananas, Fusarium and Chinese Leek

The banana is under serious threat. A fungus, Fusarium oxysporum cubense Tropical Race 4 (TR-4) can potentially wipe out the banana as we know it in a few short years.

Scientists are working around the clock to save one of the world’s most important foodstuffs. Most of these scientist are trying to create a resistant type of banana via the genetic route. Because the current banana, the Cavendish, does only contains seeds on extremely rare occasions, it cannot begrown in the usual way. But this all takes time, and time is a currency we do not have.

So, maybe we need to look for other temporary solutions to safeguard our banana. Chinese research indicates that Chinese leek (Allium tuberosum) has an inhibitory effect on the fungus that creates Fusarium wilt and may be an efficient way to control the disease until science has created a new variety of banana that is resistent to Fusarium oxysporum TR-4.

Adopting a rotation system with Chinese leek and banana, reduced the Fusarium wilt incidence and disease severity index by as much as 88%-97% and 91%-96%, respectively, and improved the crop value by 36%-86%, in an area heavily infested by Fusarium oxysporum TR-4 between 2007 and 2009.

Crude extracts of Chinese leek completely inhibited the growth of Fusarium oxysporum on Petri dishes, suppressed the proliferation of the spores by 91% and caused 87% spore mortality.

The findings of this study suggest that Chinese leek has the potential to inhibit Fusarium oxysporum growth and Fusarium wilt incidence. This potential may be developed into an environmentally friendly treatment to control Fusarium wilt of banana[1].

[1] Huang et al: Control of Fusarium wilt in banana with Chinese leek in European Journal of Plant Pathology - 2012

A noteworthy banana: Musa indandamanensis

Wild banana species are largely distributed in some tropical rainforests, wet evergreen forests to deciduous forests of low rain fall zones. The major centres for these wild bananas can be found from India to Indonesia.

The Andaman and Nicobar Islands in the Indian Ocean are little known. It is also a region where the wild bananas have not been explored systematically because it has received little attention from taxonomists.

The low lying Little Andaman has widespread rainforests. The island has a warm and humid tropical climate, with the temperature ranging from 18° to 35°C. It receives heavy rain fall from monsoons with the average annual rain fall ranging from 3000 to 3500 mm.

During explorations, L. J. Singh found a new species of banana and he named it Musa indandamanensis, in honour of the island. The peel and pulp colour of the fruit becomes yellowish orange at maturity with a circa 3.5 centimeter long stalk and many seeds[1].

[1] Singh: Musa indandamanensis L. J. Singh: A New Species (Musaceae) from the Bay Islands, India in Taiwania - 2014. Pdf here.

Brazil in search of new banana varieties resistant to Panama Disease

The Brazilian Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Supply stated that the measures taken to prevent the entry of the Panama Disease into Brazil should suffice. It must be wishful thinking (or else a meaningful disregard for the obvious facts), because the disease is causing the banana plantations in Asia and Africa to lose billions of dollars.

According to Alexei Dianese, researcher from Embrapa Cerredos, it is only a matter of time before the pest arrives in the Americas.

Dianese stated that they had reasons to worry. According to him, the fungus could destroy a banana plantation in a few months. Once it reaches the ground it penetrated the roots and makes them rot, then, as the leaves no longer get nutrients, the plant dies.

"It depends on the location and the variety of the plants. It might take longer if the soil is well drained. For example, the apple banana variety, which is extremely susceptible to the Panama disease, developed the typical symptoms of the Panama disease in their second year, when the plants were 1.80 meters tall, then, they died," he explained.

Embrapa is betting on developing new varieties resistant to the disease via genetic improvements. Two years ago, Embrapa, in collaboration with universities of the countries where the disease has already spread, started an investigation. According to the Dianese, the prata (Musa x paradisíaca) and apple varieties, which account for 70% of Brazilian production, are the most susceptible varieties to this disease.

Banana Chips

Banana chips are slices of bananas that are or dried naturally or deep-fried. The are considered a delicacy in southeast Asian Countries, but are also exported overseas to Europe and North-Amrica.

The banana chips are usually made from the Saba and Cardava varieties of Musa sapientum. The bananas are picked in their mature green stage, peeled, washed, sliced and fried in vegetable oil to get the crispy and golden end product. Often, a syrup containing a bit of honey is added before drying.

You can dry the chips naturally but the slices will turn brownish and rather soggy (and sorry) looking.

The vast majority of the banana chips originate from the Philippines, but they are also a delicacy in countries such as Vietnam, Indonesia (kripik pisang) and India.

Are banana chips a healthy alternative to other snacks? Yes, bananas are very healthy, but the chips are deep-fried in oil and that is detrimental to the health potential of the chips. Consume with care if you're on a diet.

The quest for resistance against Panama Disease/TR4

Bananas from remote regions of Uganda are now tested at Wageningen University in The Netherlands to see if they might harbour (some) resistance against the feared Tropical Race 4 of the Panama Disease that is currently raging around the globe.

Scientists are engaged in a race against time to find a variety of banana that is resistant. Meanwhile, the future seems bleak.