Go bananas with tasty tips for preparing this family favorite
Best to buy
Avoid fruit with bruises and splits in the skin. Choose firm, green to slightly yellow
bunches, and store them at room temperature. The skin of bananas turns black when they are
refrigerated, though it does not affect the fruit inside.
Cut & clean
Enjoy bananas when they ripen to a uniform yellow with tiny brown flecks. If fruit is too
green, store in a paper bag to speed ripening. Very ripe fruit can be peeled, frozen in
freezer bags, and used for baking.
Power food
Bananas are a good source of potassium.
Did you know...?
Mashed bananas can be added to baked goods as a natural sweetener.
Also indexed as: Baby Bananas, Cavendish Bananas, Gros Michel
Bananas, Red Bananas
Bananas are very sweet and can be mashed and added to baked goods as a natural sweetener.
Frozen bananas can be puréed to make smoothies or a healthful substitute for ice cream. They can be eaten out of hand or sliced and
added to fruit salads. For an impressive dessert, flambé sliced bananas and serve over
ice cream, or make a nutritious sandwich by combining sliced bananas and peanut butter on whole-grain bread.
In many Latin American and Asian countries, banana leaves are used in place of plates. The
leaves work well as wrappers in place of aluminum foil for holding and steaming foods. In
Malaysia, the banana flower is cooked and eaten; in Africa, a beer is brewed from bananas.
Because bananas emit a gas that promotes ripening, placing an unripe banana in a paper bag
or breathable container with other produce will encourage the produce to ripen more
quickly.
Buying and storing tips
Avoid bruised fruit and bananas showing splits in the skin. Choose firm, green to slightly
yellow bunches, and store them at room temperature. It is claimed that bananas taste sweeter
ripened off the plant. Eat or prepare bananas when they ripen to a uniform yellow with tiny
brown flecks. The skin of bananas turns black when they are refrigerated, though it does not
affect the quality of the fruit inside. Very ripe fruit can be peeled, frozen in freezer bags,
and used for baking.
Varieties
Although about 30 different varieties of bananas exist, North Americans are mostly familiar
with three types: the blunt-ended Cavendish; the Gros Michel, known by its tapered ends; and
the starchy plantains, which is used only for
cooking as a vegetable. There are also dwarf or “baby” bananas and red bananas,
among the other varieties.
Nutrition Highlights
Banana, 1 medium
Calories: 105
Protein: 1g
Carbohydrate: 27g
Total Fat: 0g
Fiber: 3g
*Excellent source of: Vitamin B6 (0.43mg)
*Good source of: Manganese (0.32mg), Potassium (422.44mg), and Vitamin C (10.27mg)
*Foods that are an “excellent source” of a particular
nutrient provide 20% or more of the Recommended Daily Value. Foods that are a “good
source” of a particular nutrient provide between 10 and 20% of the Recommended Daily
Value.
The information presented in the Food Guide is for informational purposes
only and was created by a team of US–registered dietitians and food experts. Consult
your doctor, practitioner, and/or pharmacist for any health problem and before using any
supplements, making dietary changes, or before making any changes in prescribed medications.
Information expires June 2009.
