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The search is on for banana ancestors
- authpor 4y ago
- tastyfreeze 4y agoSo we can continue having bananas to eat. All bananas we eat are clones of a limited variety of banana species. A disease that affects one Cavendish banana tree will eventually wipe out all Cavendish bananas because they have identical genes. Cloned plants are great for production for awhile but genetic diversity wins over time.
- authpor 4y agoI am assuming they will use the banana ancestor to breed it with their clone, and sell it at cost to the banana, pocketing the difference as profit. then again, bananas will never pushback against footing the entire bill, so they'll probably get wiped out. why do you think they're having some trouble finding banana ancestors? how much banana is there left?
- jdmichal 4y agoThat's now how bananas work. Bananas are sterile hybrids; that's why they're cloned in the first place. Other plants are cloned for other reasons, typically because they don't grow true from seed. Luckily for us, banana plants grow like bromeliads. They flower and fruit then die. But not before sprouting several new stalks. So they're really easy to propagate by separating the new stalks once they get big enough. Someone else posted this excellent article on it: https://www.damninteresting.com/the-unfortunate-sex-life-of-the-banana/ https://www.damninteresting.com/the-unfortunate-sex-life-of-...
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- prettyStandard 4y agohttps://archive.ph/XQZmi https://archive.ph/XQZmi
- hayst4ck 4y agoA fun article about this very situation: https://www.damninteresting.com/the-unfortunate-sex-life-of-the-banana/ https://www.damninteresting.com/the-unfortunate-sex-life-of-...
- gnicholas 4y agoFun fact: artificial banana flavoring doesn't taste like modern bananas, but tastes more like varieties that used to be popular: > So, when you’re biting into a piece of banana Laffy Taffy, you’re getting a taste of the bananas of the past. “That’s kind of why I think of these older, ‘cheap’ artificial flavors as ‘heirloom’ artificial flavors,” says Berenstein. “Because they’re the simpler formulas that have been less modified by time.” from: https://www.sciencefriday.com/articles/why-dont-banana-candies-taste-like-real-bananas/ https://www.sciencefriday.com/articles/why-dont-banana-candi...
- zasdffaa 4y agoIn short, the banana that preceded Cavendish was Gros Michel, which had different composition taste-wise. The earlier sweets/candies were based on the taste of those. Gros Michel suffered from diseases, stopped being the main cultivar and Cavendish took over with its different taste. (from memory anyway)
- tksiden 4y agoThat's kinda of mind blowing. It kinda explains why my grandpa always shot talks modern food.
- hombre_fatal 4y ago> Banana-flavored candy does not mimic the taste of a formerly popular variety of banana. The reason banana candy tastes different than bananas is that it is mainly flavored with only one of the many flavors a banana has, isoamyl acetate. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_common_misconceptions https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_common_misconception...
- manv1 4y agoToday's banana exists because its predecessor was wiped out. That "banana" flavored novocaine is what that banana used to taste like. There is apparently a disease stalking the current Cavendish strain, which is why finding a new commercial strain is becoming more urgent for the industry.
- keltor 4y ago"Wiped out" is patently false. Gros Michel is pretty standard in Southeast Asia and still grows all over Central America. Cavendish is actually still fairly susceptible to Panama disease and the Cavendish grown in parts of SEA are being pretty handily wiped out. The real problem is the want to transport unripen bananas with thick skins to market and have them look ripe and unbruised. Bananas don't seem to want to breed pretty and thick skins.
- xref 4y agoI’d wondered if it was still possible to taste a Gros Michel or if it was lost to time, glad I’ve just been traveling to the wrong places!
- stuckinhell 4y agoThis is slightly off topic but related. Bananas in Asia are amazing. I've was lucky enough to try a Blue Java banana, and imagine a vanilla ice cream banana.
- gumby 4y agoYeah, for the part of my childhood in SE Asia we had at least a half a dozen varieties. Lots of more interesting fruit than you can get in the US. Most notably is how terrible pineapples are in the US. And Cavendish bananas are essentially flavour-free.
- jdmichal 4y agoWe grow our own and are looking at a variety called "ice cream". I figured the name was exaggerated, but now you have me second-guessing that... EDIT: Apparently they're in fact the same cultivar. The bananas start off blue and ripen to yellow.
- standardly 4y agoBanancestors
- Tozen 4y agoHope they are looking at plantains too, which look like bananas, but aren't the same. Was totally tricked when seeing them for the first time. They aren't eaten raw, but are usually cooked. Plantains are a popular food of the Caribbean.