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Banana
Bananas are an excellent food source and also very interesting plants.
They are herbs, like grass and other soft stemmed plants. The plants grow
from an underground corm with a fibrous mat of roots. What may seem like a
tree trunk is actually the rolled up leaf stems.
The fruits of a banana are enclosed within the large red “bell” flower
which grows out of the center of the plant. As the flower petals open each
immature hand of the banana bunch is exposed. The time from first “shooting
the bunch” to harvest is about ninety days.
There are an incredible number of different types of bananas. Some
that are only eaten when cooked, may be called plantains. The most common
“
Cavendish” or “Chiquita” types can be eaten when green as a starch, or
allowed to ripen as a dessert fruit. Other smaller types, commonly called
“
apple” bananas or “ladyfingers” are most often eaten when sweet.
Green bananas are prepared in many of the same ways as tropical root
crops. They are a readily available source of carbohydrates for energy. Ripe
bananas have the same energy value as the green fruit except that it is in the
more digestible form of sugar. Sweet bananas are a delicious snack food and
can be used in baked items and meat dishes as well.
Estimated Nutritional Values
Amount/Serving
% DV*
Amount/Serving
% DV*
Calories
138 kcal
1 Gm
0 Gm
0 Mg
7 % Carbohydrate
2 % Iron
35 Gm 12 %
Total Fat
0.5 Mg
9 Mg
3 %
1 %
1 %
Saturated Fat
Cholesterol
Sodium
0 % Calcium
0 % Vitamin A
0 % Vitamin C
4 %
60.5 IU
2 Gm
2 Gm
13.7 Mg 23 %
Protein
*Percent daily Values (DV) are based on a 2,000 calorie diet
Nutritional Values are based on 1 cup of banana
Milk:
0
Veg:
0
Fruit:
2
Bread:
0
Meat:
0
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