Fruit
Banana
Banana is the elongated berry of Musa cultivars, eaten worldwide as a sweet ripe fruit or a starchy green vegetable (plantain-type cooking bananas). Cavendish dominates export trade; hundreds of local varieties differ in size, acidity, and cooking behaviour. Ripe flesh is soft, creamy, and aromatic; green fruit is firm, starchy, and suitable for frying, boiling, and savoury stews. The peel is usually discarded. Ripen at room temperature; refrigeration after ripening slows further softening but greys the peel. Use in baking, smoothies, fritters, leaf-wrapped steams, and chips. Bruises spread quickly—handle gently. Major growing regions include India, China, Latin America, Africa, and Southeast Asia.
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Cuts & parts
Breeds & varieties
A sample of named types with their own origin and culinary profiles.
Characteristics
Preparations
Provenance
Sources
Traits
Nutrition and pairings
Nutrition
Typical values per 100 g edible portion. Nutrient names open the reference page.
Nutrition Facts
Per 100 g edible portion
Amount per 100 g
- Total Fat 0.29 g
- Saturated Fat 0.06 g
- Trans Fat 0 g
- Monounsaturated Fat 0.11 g
- Polyunsaturated Fat 0.12 g
- Cholesterol 0 mg
- Sodium 4.83 mg
- Salt 0.01 g
- Total Carbohydrate 12.9 g
- Dietary Fibre 2.02 g
- Total Sugars 9.37 g
- Complex / starch 0.97 g
- Protein 0.74 g
- Water 84.4 g
- Energy 57.1 kcal
- Water 84.4 g
- Carbohydrates 12.9 g
- Sugars 9.37 g
- Monosaccharides 6.56 g
- Disaccharides 2.81 g
- Starch 0.97 g
- Amylose 0.24 g
- Amylopectin 0.73 g
- Digestible Starch 0.82 g
- Resistant Starch 0.1 g
- Fibre 2.02 g
- Soluble Fibre 0.71 g
- Insoluble Fibre 1.31 g
- Protein 0.74 g
- Plant Protein 0.75 g
- Fat 0.29 g
- Saturated Fat 0.06 g
- Monounsaturated Fat 0.11 g
- Polyunsaturated Fat 0.12 g
- Vitamins 81.9 mg
- Vitamin A 20 µg
- Vitamin B1 — Thiamine 0.03 mg
- Vitamin B2 — Riboflavin 0.04 mg
- Vitamin B3 — Niacin 0.37 mg
- Vitamin B5 — Pantothenic Acid 0.18 mg
- Vitamin B6 0.37 mg
- Vitamin B7 — Biotin 0.9 µg
- Vitamin B9 — Folate 13.4 µg
- Vitamin C 42 mg
- Vitamin E 0.26 mg
- Vitamin K 4.3 µg
- Minerals 345 mg
- Major Minerals 339 mg
- Trace Minerals 6.6 mg
- Salt 0.01 g
- Sodium Chloride 0.01 g
Vitamins
vitamin-c: 42 · vitamin-a: 20 · vitamin-b1-thiamine: 0.03 · vitamin-b2-riboflavin: 0.04 · vitamin-b3-niacin: 0.37 · vitamin-b5-pantothenic-acid: 0.18 · vitamin-b6: 0.37 · vitamin-b7-biotin: 0.9 · vitamin-b9-folate: 13.4 · vitamin-e: 0.26 · vitamin-k: 4.3 ·
Minerals
Sodium: 4.83 · Potassium: 277 · Calcium: 57 · Iron: 1.2 · Zinc: 0.4 · Iodine: 5 ·
Fruit energy is mostly natural sugars with fibre and vitamin C varying by species.
In the kitchen
Culinary partners and combinations that usually underperform with Banana.
Grading systems
Grades are placed along a shared scale so systems can be compared side by side.
History
Bananas were domesticated in Southeast Asia and New Guinea and spread with Austronesian and later trade routes.
Portuguese and Spanish colonial trade carried bananas to the Americas and West Africa.
Refrigerated shipping and plantation monocultures made export bananas a temperate-zone staple.
Cavendish replaced Gros Michel as the main export cultivar after Panama disease devastated earlier stocks.