Bananas are infertile

The paradox is that, having an exceptional phallic shape, the banana known to us is itself deprived of a healthy sexual life. The bananas available to us in stores belong to the Cavendish subgroup, and their common feature is complete sterility. Wild bananas are a massive herbaceous plant that grows in the jungle. Its fruits are filled with a huge amount of hard seeds, which make them unsuitable for eating. Classic bananas for us are mutants of a wild fruit, with undeveloped seeds. This makes them ideal for eating, but does not allow them to be engaged in breeding. 

Previously, farmers prevented the extinction of bananas by transplanting cuttings for cloning them. However, the inability to reproduce made the plants vulnerable to pests and diseases that would not pose a threat if sexual reproduction was possible. Because of this, several types of bananas were simply destroyed. So, in the 60s, the fruits of Gross Michel were popular in the Western United States, exactly until they were destroyed by the "Panama disease". Modern bananas are subject to the aggressive effects of "black cigatoka", a fungal disease that affects the fruit through the leaves.

Author: 

Alex

Last modified: 

Jun 2021