Nana from heaven? How our favourite fruit came to be

A creationist once held up a banana as proof of God but this is a fruit very much made by humans

Life 17 April 2013

Go, bananas
Go, bananas

(Image: Martina Bacigalupo/Agence VU/Camera Press)

Nana from heaven? How our favourite fruit came to be

(Image: Warut Roonguthal)

IT’S the superstar of the fruit world: delicious, nutritious, conveniently packaged and easy to eat. You can pop it in your bag as a handy snack, or use it as part of all kinds of meals. Even children who turn up their noses at other fruits will happily eat a banana.


The yellow-skinned Cavendish banana that is so popular in Western countries is just one of hundreds of varieties. Bananas are a staple food throughout much of the tropics, with the flowers and stems as well as the fruit being eaten in some regions. In terms of financial value, bananas are the fourth most important food crop in the world, after rice, wheat and maize.

What’s more, the plants have many other uses besides eating. The fruits are used to brew beer in eastern Africa. Fresh banana leaves are still widely used for wrapping and serving food. Dried leaves were once used for writing on. The fibres in banana stems can be used to make everything from mats and ropes to fine cloths. In Japan, some kimonos have long been made from banana fibres.

So where did this extraordinary plant come from? A combination of genetic and linguistic detective work is revealing exactly how some barely edible wild plants were turned into the tasty treats of today. The story of the banana turns out to be the story of the peoples who shaped it. It was their prehistoric movements around the Indian Ocean and tropical Pacific that gave rise to …

Continue reading

Subscribe for unlimited digital access

Subscribe now for unlimited access


Paid annually by Credit Card

Inclusive of applicable taxes (VAT)