The Magic of Bananas For Cooking and Healing Table of Contents For Cooking and Healing Introduction Knowing More about the Banana Growing Bananas Best Temperature for Bananas Preparing the Ground for Bananas Banana Growing Tips Planting Bananas Why Not Seeds? Fertilizer Banana Diseases Ripening on the Tree Harvesting Bananas Storing of Bananas One Banana or Two Yogurt and Bananas Dry Cough Want to Gain Weight? Ulcers in your mouth? Nosebleed The Difference between Bananas and Plantains Talking about Banana Republics Bananas as a Healthy Complete Food Banana Leaves Using Banana Leaves for Cooking Grilling Tip Using Banana Leaves for Wrapping Food and Steaming Banana Fiber Banana and Coconut Rings with Palm Sugar Coconut Milk and Coconut Cream Plantain and Lamb Curry Banana Bread Conclusion Introduction If you were a part of the flapper scene in the roaring 20s and 30s you would be Charleston-ing to "Yes, yes, we have no bananas." "Going bananas" was popular slang for someone who thought he or she was losing his marbles over someone or something. A Bright Young Thing of that Era would tell her "Sheik" that she considered him to be the bee's knees, and the cat's pajamas and she was going bananas over him, but ... if he was found escorting any other "Sheba" around to trip the light fantastic, she would have his blood for breakfast. So what is there in this not so humble plant, which makes it such an integral part of popular culture, as well as slang? Well, firstly, bananas are delicious treats to have throughout the day. Also, they are rich in potassium and other minerals, which keep you fit and fine and glowing and chirpy. Also, the name is rather amusing, so no wonder the whole world has gone bananas over bananas. Since millenniums, the economies of countries have depended upon this delicious fruit. You can eat these bananas and raw or you can need them ripe. You can roast them, fry them, boil them, mash them, and then your imagination is the limit to which particular use, you want to put these bananas. Baby food definitely consists of mashed bananas Bananas are normally eaten raw, but when you decide to cook them, you are going to choose bananas called plantains with more starch content. They may be raw bananas. The color of our banana ranges from green to yellow. You may also have brown, red, and purple bananas depending on the species and the state of ripeness. The bananas were called Musa sapientum by scientists before, but that name has now gone out of use. The banana species which we eat now belong to Musa balbisiana and Musa acuminata. Hybrids are also very popular, especially when Musa balbisiana is crossed with M.acuminata. Most of the banana plants, which you find now are completely seedless. That is why if you are looking for seeds, to grow your bananas in your garden, sorry, you will need to plant a banana seedling, propagated by horticulturalist and gardeners. Bananas are native to tropical Southeast Asia, the Indian subcontinent, Malaya and other tropical regions, as well as Australia. They grew wild in the tropical forests here until people started growing them in New Guinea anywhere between 5000 to 8000 years ago. From there, they spread all over the world.