But a new strain that emerged in the 1990s is now attacking Cavendish bananas in Malaysia and elsewhere in Southeast Asia. The strain, called tropical race 4 or TR4, was also found in Colombia in 2019 and Peru in 2021, sparking concerns that the world’s entire banana crop may be at risk of extinction.
Will the Cavendish banana go extinct?
The most common banana variety is at risk of going extinct. But researchers have discovered a potential way to save it—and many other plants. The Cavendish accounts for about 99 percent of the world’s commercially produced bananas. Photography by PP1, Shutterstock.
What banana will replace the Cavendish?
They replaced the Gros Michel banana (commonly known as Kampala banana in Kenya and Bogoya in Uganda) after it was devastated by Panama disease. They are unable to reproduce sexually, instead being propagated via identical clones.
Cavendish banana.
| Cavendish | |
|---|---|
| Cultivar group members | See text |
What is threatening the Cavendish banana?
Now, however, another strain of Fusarium called TR4 that can kill many varieties, including the Cavendish, is spreading to more and more countries. In many places bananas are a staple crop, so this fungus is a threat to food security as well as livelihoods.
What type of banana went extinct?
Banana déjà vu
Bananas have gone extinct before. The Gros Michel banana was the banana of choice until the 1950s. They were slightly bigger than the Cavendish, with a stronger flavour. This was until a fungal disease called Panama disease struck, which almost wiped out the species.
Why are bananas dying out?
Nearly all of the bananas sold globally are just one kind called the Cavendish, which is susceptible to a deadly fungus called Tropical Race 4, or Panama Disease. If not stopped, Tropical Race 4 could wipe out the $25 billion banana industry.
Why don t bananas taste like they used to?
Then along came Panama disease, a fungus that has been the bane of banana growers since the 1800s. It all but wiped the Gros Michel off the planet by the 1960s. As the fungus decimated crops, a less-popular, less-flavorful variety—the Cavendish—was discovered to be resistant to the pathogen.
Do Gros Michel still exist?
The few countries that still produce the Gros Michel today mostly do so under another name: Thihmwe in Myanmar, Johnson in Cuba, Pisang Ambon in Malaysia. In Hawai’i, it is commercially grown as Bluefields.
Are Cavendish bananas cloned?
Despite their smooth texture, bananas actually do have small seeds inside, but they are commercially propagated through cuttings which means that all bananas are actually clones of each other.
What is the most popular banana?
Cavendish bananas
Cavendish bananas are the most common variety. They are the long yellow, slightly sweet bananas at supermarkets around the U.S. They go from under-ripe green to perfectly ripe and still firm mellow yellow, to riper deep yellow with a brown spot or two, to super soft and browning.
How much DNA do we share with bananas?
We do in fact share about 50% of our genes with plants – including bananas.” “Bananas have 44.1% of genetic makeup in common with humans.”
Is it safe to eat bananas with red spots?
Mokillo, moko, and blood disease bacterium are bacterial diseases that can also cause red discoloration in bananas. While unappealing to eat, these diseases affecting bananas are not a threat to human health, however when in doubt, throw it out or compost them.
How many bananas exist?
There are way more varieties than you probably think.
Grown in more than 150 countries, it is widely believed there are more than 1,000 types of bananas in the world, which are subdivided into 50 groups. The most common is the Cavendish, the one most frequently produced for export markets.
Do any original bananas exist?
However, the bananas grown today are not the ‘original’ bananas. In fact, the original banana was different in nearly every way. Over time, the original banana became extinct, and we currently have a mutation of the early banana. The original banana is believed to have been cultivated about 1000 years ago.
What is the original banana called?
Gros Michel (French pronunciation: [ɡʁo miʃɛl]), often translated and known as “Big Mike”, is an export cultivar of banana and was, until the 1950s, the main variety grown.
Gros Michel banana.
| Gros Michel | |
|---|---|
| Cultivar | Gros Michel |
| Origin | native from Southeast Asia, selectively cultivated in Martinique, Jamaica |
What disease is killing bananas?
| Panama disease | |
|---|---|
| Common names | Panama disease Fusarium wilt of banana Vascular wilt of banana |
| Causal agents | Fusarium oxysporum f.sp. cubense |
| Hosts | banana |
| Vectors | water, soil residues, replanting of suckers, farming tools and transport, leaf trash |
When did the last banana go extinct?
Bananas are the world’s most popular fruit, but the banana industry is currently dominated by one type of banana: the Cavendish (or supermarket banana) that we all know and love. The Cavendish banana rose to fame in 1965 when the previous banana superstar, the Gros Michel, officially became extinct and lost the throne.
What pathogen is attacking bananas today?
Table 1
| Common name | Distribution and hosts | Currently accepted taxonomy |
|---|---|---|
| Phylotype/sequevar | ||
| Xanthomonas bacterial wilt of banana and enset (enset wilt, banana bacterial wilt) | Ethiopia, Uganda, DR Congo, Rwanda, Burundi, Tanzania, Kenya (enset and all cultivated banana types). | Not relevant |
Where do Cavendish bananas come from?
This supermarket variety of banana, the Cavendish banana, descended from a banana plant first grown in a hothouse in northern England in the 1800s.
What is the best tasting banana?
The Ladyfingers are the sweetest and best tasting of them all, but since there’s no reliable way to determine which kind you’re getting, you’ll have to undertake some delicious trial and error. These fruits must be very ripe to reach full sweetness; their skin should look deep brown, with dark streaks.
What did carrots originally look like?
Turns out most carrots were purple before the 17th century.
Thought those pretty purple carrots at the farmers’ market were something new and different? Turns out most carrots were violet hued before the 17th century.