One of its names is Musa Sapientum, the fruit of the wise; its centre of origin stretches from India to Malaysia, with India being also a centre of diversity, counting hundreds of diverse varieties. It is, in fact, in India that Alexander discovered the fruit in 327 BC. We are talking of the humble, ubiquitous banana, whose history is as antique as the Vedas, and whose cultural significance is deeply embedded in people’s ethos.
Coconuts and bananas have always been a traditional offering at temples, where sometimes the banana doubles up as an agarbatti stand. Fruit apart, the flowers, too, are edible; the fibre from the stem is used to make textiles and the leaves are used to serve food at community feasts.
But the fruit itself is something else. It is said to be among the few foods containing five major vitamin groups: beta carotene, the precursor of vitamin A, vitamin B, vitamin C, vitamin E and vitamin K.
Bananas are also a good source of minerals, tryptophan, an essential amino acid and fibre. One medium-size banana contains 422mg of potassium, 26mg of magnesium, 6mg of calcium, 1mg of sodium, 0.31mg of iron, 1.2mcg of selenium, 0.319mg of manganese, 0.092mg of copper and 0.18mg of zinc (Source:Dr. Decuypere’s Nutrient Charts).
The level of potassium is quite high and the electrolytes this mineral contains are very useful in controlling heart functions, blood pressure and fluid balance. The combination of B vitamins, potassium and magnesium present in banana helps combat withdrawal symptoms for those who have quit smoking.
The fibre content in bananas, including pectins, has several positive effects on our health. Their carbohydrates regulate our digestion. Our digestive health gets a further boost through the action of the fructo-oligosaccharides that banana contains and which get metabolised in the lower intestine by bacteria; this pre-biotic activity maintains the balance of “friendly” bacteria.
The pectins in the fruit, in combination with the lactobacillus from curds, control diarrhoea and revitalise the body with the help of electrolytes. It is a well-known fact that bananas bring relief to those suffering from stomach ulcers since they coat the lining of the stomach.
One would have thought that all these remarkable benefits this superfood offers us merit gratitude instead of an ungraceful “it could do better”; but that is not how Bill Gates and Dr. Dale of Queensland University view the situation. Through a substantial grant, Gates wanted Dale to modify the banana so as to make its vitamin A content higher for the Ugandans who are deficient in it. And how do you think it was done? By incorporating the gene from the red banana of Papua New Guinea, rich in beta carotene into a “deficient” banana!
As if that was not enough, closer home, an Indian biotechnology department has asked Dr. Dale to up the quotient of iron in bananas for the iron-deficient women of India. A clear case of total ignorance of the iron-rich biodiverse foods, ranging from raisins to brown rice, to the utterly affordable mooroonga leaves which exist for all of us.
That is why it is important for us to “know our food and respect our food”, a campaign Navdanya is engaged in. Introduction of any genetically modified crop erases the local diversity of that plant as has been witnessed in the case of corn in Mexico. Pledge to become eco-citizens who know their food and source it locally and biodiversely.
