At first glance, bananas are extremely simple fruits. But, besides being one of the most popular and widely consumed fruits on the Planet, there are some things you probably don’t know about them.
Yes, they do provide certain health benefits, but here we won’t focus on that, but on several interesting and little-known facts about bananas. Most of them will probably shock you, so here they are.
This fruit is naturally radioactive. That’s right, the bananas you enjoy every day emit particles of ionizing radiation. This is because they contain potassium-40, a radioactive isotope of potassium.
The original banana had seeds, so the one we have today didn’t appear naturally. This fruit was in fact created by people 7,000 years ago. Today’s bananas have minuscule seeds, but they are not included in the reproduction process of the plant. Some say you can still find bananas with seeds in some parts of Southeast Asia.
Many ship captains, sailors, and boat owners believe this fruit brings bad luck when aboard on ship. There are even some that go to that extreme that ban sunscreens, clothing, and other products with bananas. So, the next time you go sailing, leave your bananas behind.
This fruit doesn’t grow on trees so you shouldn’t use the term banana tree. The correct way to say is banana herb, although it’s fine to say banana plant. Also, bananas are not fruits but actually berries. A cluster of bananas is called a hand, while only one is known as a finger.
Banana is an excellent source of energy that helps improve your mood in an instant. Potassium works as an electrolyte, and this fruit contains a good amount of it. Moreover, bananas contain serotonin, norepinephrine, and tryptophan – all of them helpful in the prevention of depression by calming you and improving your wellbeing. Its vitamin B6 content helps improve sleep quality and protect against irritability and mood swings.
Banana peels have plenty of uses, so don’t throw them away after eating the fruit. You can use them as a natural treatment for your pimples or even as a fertilizer for your plants.
It may sound quite shocking, but we have similar genetic traits with bananas. Apparently, this fruit shares about 60 percent of the same DNA as people.
