Banana fruit nutrition facts

Enjoy banana fruit; nature's energy-rich food that comes with a safety envelope! Fresh, creamy, and delicious dessert bananas are one of the cheapest and readily available fruits all year round.Banana is a perennial herbaceous plant that grows from the underground rhizome. It flourishes well under tropical, moisture-rich, humid, low-lying farmlands.

Banana has unique growth characteristics. In fact, the whole plant is a false stem (pseudostem). This pseudostem is consisting of broad leaves, together with their long petioles, overlapping each other in a disc-like fashion. The whole plant may reach 2 to 6 meters in height from the ground surface depending upon the cultivar types. At maturity, the rhizome gives rise to a flower (inflorescence) which is carried up along actual (true) core stem (smooth un-branched stem) which pass through the center of the pseudostem. The flower finally emerges out at the top in-between leaf clusters. The inflorescence subsequently develops to a large hanging bunch, consisting of 3 to 20 hands (tiers of fruit), with each hand carrying at least 5-10 fingers (fruits).

Health benefits of banana fruit

• Banana is one of the high-calorie tropical fruits. 100 grams of its flesh carries 90 calories. Besides, it contains a good amount of health benefiting fiber, anti-oxidants, minerals, and vitamins.
• Banana fruit is composed of soft, easily digestible flesh made up of simple sugars like fructose and sucrose that upon consumption instantly replenishes energy and revitalizes the body. Thus, for these qualities, it is one of the favorite quick bites among athletes to get instant energy. It is also one of the recommended supplement food included in the treatment plan for under-nourished children.
• The fruit holds a good amount of soluble dietary fiber (7% of DRA per 100 grams) that helps in regular bowel movements; thereby reducing constipation problems.
• It contains health promoting flavonoid poly-phenolic antioxidants such as lutein, zeaxanthin, alpha, and beta-carotenes; albeit, in small amounts. Together, these compounds help act as protective scavengers against oxygen-derived free radicals and reactive oxygen species (ROS) that play a role in aging and various disease processes.
• Banana is a good source of vitamin-B6 (pyridoxine); provides about 28% of daily-recommended allowance. Pyridoxine is an essential B-complex vitamin that has a beneficial role in the treatment of neuritis, and anemia. Further, it helps decrease homocysteine (one of the triggering factors in coronary artery disease (CHD) and stroke episodes) levels within the human body.
• The fruit is also an ideal source of vitamin-C (about 8.7 mg per 100g). Consumption of foods rich in vitamin-C helps the body develop resistance against infectious agents and scavenge harmful oxygen-free radicals.