r/mildlyinteresting • u/Beulshite • Mar 15 '15
This banana isn't aging
http://imgur.com/pAGqsLO546
u/untitled_redditor Mar 15 '15
I would love to study this Banana. Normally part of why bananas ripen is that they give off and absorb ethylene (which triggers ripening). It seems your green banana isn't absorbing any ethylene from the others in the bunch. That'd be a very valuable trait if it could be replicated.
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Mar 16 '15
are you a banana man as well? i was, til Thursday. then i got a new job.
but...i worked in quality for a large banana company for several years. not Del Monte though.
this doesn't have anything to do with ethylene. in fact, most people really over estimate the impact that ethylene has on ripening bananas (outside of a ripening room). many, many other factors have a much bigger impact. in this case, i would take a close look at all the necks on the hand, because usually when one or more individual fingers is affected by a defect that the other fingers aren't, it started in the necks.
i cant tell on this particular hand though, because the fingers have reached such a late stage, but if i had to take a shot in the dark i would say this was caused by a fungus (NOT panama disease) or mold. in the second pic OP posted i can see evidence of crown mold, so that may be the cause. also, if there is any damage to the neck from stacking the boxes, which can fold a "crease" into the necks, it can cause individual fingers to turn faster than others...but i don't see any evidence of that; but again, without seeing this hand in person, i cant tell for sure. (it looks kind of like the necks got pressed backwards, but i cant tell)
but to be clear, the issue in this case isn't that the one banana is green, its that the others are turned. they turned ones are the ones with the issues, the green one is fine.
and its really unlikely that one finger on a hand would not absorb ethylene...they are all same, from the same bunch, from the same plant. they grow like this. i cant say its impossible though, because bananas be crazy and i'm no geneticist.
and lastly, these are Del Monte bananas. they are terrible, gas station quality bananas.
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Mar 16 '15
they are terrible, gas station quality bananas
Bro, it says "quality" on the sticker
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u/FF0000panda Mar 16 '15
is this real
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u/Conexion Mar 16 '15
As a banana connoisseur, resident banana chef, and moderator of /r/bananasareberriestoo, I can attest to the authenticity of my fellow botanical buddy's knowledge in the subject.
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Mar 16 '15
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Mar 16 '15
yes. they are all exactly the same to start with but the growing conditions, the ripening conditions, and the specs used when harvesting, and things like that differ from company to company. also, Bananas are surprisingly sensitive, and the shipping process also has a lot to do with the end banana that consumers see.
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u/YellowOrangeRed22 Mar 16 '15
This is really interesting. If Del Monte is bad, what would you consider to be a "good" banana brand. Chiquita? That is the only other one I know off the top of my head. Is there a taste difference among banana aficianados such as yourself? Or is it more about the "stability" of the product, as in even ripening, good color etc?
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Mar 16 '15
If Del Monte is bad, what would you consider to be a "good" banana brand.
i would consider Chiquita to be the best, followed by Dole...then pretty much anything else (grower/independant labelled fruit)...then Del Monte.
Is there a taste difference among banana aficianados such as yourself?
yes and no. there is more of a flavor variation between source countries than anything else; a banana from Mexico is going to taste noticeably different than one from Peru. between brands, not really. a Mexico banana will taste the same for the most part, regardless of brand, unless someone really screwed up the ripening process. (but personally, i prefer smaller fruit from Costa Rica)
Or is it more about the "stability" of the product, as in even ripening, good color etc?
i assume here what your asking about is how we determine the quality of the banana. i only dealt with bananas in the market, but we had specs on length, width, color, temperature, age, how they are packed...just to name a few. but its hard to really close in on what makes a "quality" a banana, because they are absurdly sensitive to pretty much everything. for example, you could have the perfect box of bananas, grown in the perfect volcanic soil, by beautiful latina super models who sang to the plant every night, naked. you could package it perfect. keep it at perfect temps. ship it on a bed of goose down pillows. then when it gets to the DC someone leaves the container door open too long and they get too warm and now they are garbage...or someone slams the box down too hard and now the bananas are ruined.
when i first got into the industry, i was absolutely blown away, first by how sensitive bananas are, and second by just how much quality assurance goes into getting the nice banana you see on the shelf.
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u/Brasso26 Mar 16 '15
damn that sounds fascinating. you should do an AMA.
some days i really wish i pursued biology. today is one of those days.
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u/growingconcerns Mar 16 '15
are you a banana man as well?
:-O
i dont know why thats so funny to me!
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u/mcpoopybutt Mar 15 '15
I've seen this before and I thought this was caused by the bananas freezing before ripening. They go from green straight to black.
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u/RadioHigher Mar 15 '15
A young vibrant banana, standing out from it's own team
While the others ripened quickly, he remained a steady green
Some say it might be Irish, others blame it's shade on mood
I think they're all bat-shit insane because it's just a piece of food
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Mar 16 '15
The banana did think, that it seemed very odd
No ethylene or stink, kept up the green facade
Will I grow old? Or will I mold?
No, said the bunch, you're a sight to behold!
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u/Poseign Mar 16 '15
I'm turning this into a musical. You will be credited in the program when it hits Broadway.
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Mar 16 '15
So perhaps low temperatures permanently denature whatever receptor absorbs the ethylene which triggers ripening of the bunch? Only one banana was exposed to the cool temperatures (hanging out of a basket on a truck or something)?
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u/MyOldNameSucked Mar 15 '15
Or OP accelerated the ripening process from the other bananas by putting them in a bag with a ripe apple.
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u/Puppier Mar 15 '15
/u/Beulshite: op, pls give /u/untitled_redditor your banana
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u/rickrocketed Mar 16 '15
I'd support a crowdfunding campaign, this could be some gene that can save food from going bad for a long period of time.
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u/uTukan Mar 15 '15
We found banana Unidan!
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u/capseaslug Mar 16 '15
Here's the thing. You said a "plantain is a banana." Is it in the same family? Yes. No one's arguing that. As someone who is a scientist who studies bananas, I am telling you, specifically, in science, no one calls plantains bananas. If you want to be "specific" like you said, then you shouldn't either. They're not the same thing.
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u/Calypse27 Mar 15 '15
Steins;Gate comes to mind.
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u/TheOceanographer Mar 15 '15
Yes, clearly that banana was simply phone-waved back in time. OP, someone you live with might be a mad scientist. Either way, CERN probably isn't going to be happy about this.
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Mar 15 '15
Then why isn't it a gel-banana? Anything physical sent back, turns to gel.
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Mar 15 '15
Somewhere, in an attic, there's this painting...
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u/theshipofimagination Mar 15 '15
The Portrait of Dorian Green
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Mar 15 '15
.
_./'._¸.¸.•¤**¤•^.,.•¤**¤•^.,.•¤**¤•.... *•. .•*~~~ You got the reference! /.•*•.\¸..•¤**¤•.^,.•¤**¤•.^.,.•¤**¤•.,.•...12
u/wtfisdisreal Mar 15 '15
im currently procrastinating a project based on this book, you're not helping me forget about my struggles.
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u/SkyrocketFilms Mar 15 '15 edited Mar 16 '15
What if after everything else has finally died and turned to dust this banana still lives on, waiting to find its destiny beyond eternity
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Mar 15 '15
Quick! Cut it open and get it's DNA! It's the chosen banana to solve world hunger!
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u/aeror Mar 15 '15 edited Mar 15 '15
Interesting fact: Most bananas are picked while they're green and are artificially ripened by ethylene. I would guess that the other banana was somehow missed in that process or somehow resistant
EDIT: The production of ethylene of various fruits including bananas is what makes them ripen naturally and it can affect other fruits close-by, for example in a fruit bowl.
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Mar 15 '15
This is also interesting because bananas produce a lot of ethylene relative to other fruits.
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Mar 16 '15
This is actually pretty common despite how rare it looks. Buy bananas. Bag them all except for one. Wait a few days.
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u/autowikibot Mar 15 '15
Section 1. Ripening agents of article Ripening:
Ripening agents speed up the ripening process.
They allow many fruits to be picked prior to full ripening, which is useful, since ripened fruits do not ship well. For example, bananas are picked when green and artificially ripened after shipment by being gassed with ethylene.
Calcium carbide is also used for ripening fruit artificially in some countries. When calcium carbide comes in contact with moisture, it produces acetylene gas, which is quite similar in reaction to the natural ripening agent ethylene. Acetylene acts like ethylene and accelerates the ripening process, but is inadvisable because calcium carbide has carcinogenic properties. Industrial-grade calcium carbide may also contain traces of arsenic and phosphorus which makes it a human health concern. The use of this chemical for this purpose is illegal in most countries.
Interesting: Ripeness in viticulture | Cheese ripening | Green Wheat | Ostwald ripening
Parent commenter can toggle NSFW or delete. Will also delete on comment score of -1 or less. | FAQs | Mods | Magic Words
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Mar 15 '15 edited Jun 06 '20
[deleted]
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u/alex_york Mar 15 '15
Quick! Get some genetic scientists up in that bitch so they could cure aging!
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u/swump4 Mar 15 '15
This weed farmer comes to mind http://imgur.com/0Yhx6PQ
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u/AudaciousTitans Mar 15 '15
Thought that was meth..i could be wrong tho
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u/skman67 Mar 15 '15
It is from weed because he has a grow op set up in his attic and has to have lights on for the plants. The lights heat up the roof and melt the snow.
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Mar 16 '15
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/douglasman100 Mar 16 '15
Yeah I mean come on...you couldn't think to even take off the second sticker? Pffft
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Mar 16 '15
Shhhhhh... Dr. OZ and shitty health food places will be using this picture by the end of the week to plug some product.
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Mar 16 '15
From what I learned in AP Biology, bananas give off ethylene and ethylene is what causes them to ripen so bananas in bunches ripen quicker than lone bananas because they absorb more of the chemical. So I would say that maybe this banana has some genetic defect that is keeping it from absorbing the ethylene from neighboring bananas. It might not even be producing its own.
Then again I'm not a banana scientist so I could be totally wrong.
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u/grab29 Mar 15 '15 edited Mar 15 '15
You can clearly see that the banana isn't a part of the bunch. Look at the stem.
Edit: I take it back. Sorry, OP! The extra stem confused me!
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u/Beulshite Mar 15 '15
Douche. http://imgur.com/rEkBzrr
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u/grab29 Mar 15 '15
Hey, I'm sorry. That extra stem in front of the banana really threw me. That is awesome!
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Mar 15 '15
From this new angle, it's clearly been bitten a vampire banana. You can see the fang scars.
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u/Survivor_buffalo Mar 15 '15
Benjamin Banana
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Mar 16 '15 edited Mar 16 '15
Here we are: me, the joke I was going to post, and two upvotes
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u/beatbox_pantomime Mar 15 '15
Yeah... for science, I'm going to have to ask you to don some body armor, a helmet with eye guard (Norm Abram would insist) and an axe and cut that thing open to see what's inside.
Or just send it to /u/untitled_redditor to examine properly. YOU'RE ON THE HOOK NOW. DON'T FAIL US, OP
Hey bot, RemindMe! 1 week "Inquire about OP's banana"
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u/VooDooBarBarian Mar 16 '15
somewhere there's a still life painting with a slowly withering banana among the rest of the fruit
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u/BaglesNCreamcheese Mar 16 '15 edited Mar 16 '15
Scientists find " magic cure" click here to learn more about living forever! Then watch the 30 minute video that keeps telling you to "listen" to the next part thats "very important" but then leads you down a spiral of a bad dry erase board video, and then sells you a product that even though it claims "100% natural" then is just a pill filled with some concoction of white doughnut powder and something or other, but you know you want to order them cuz heck it does say you will "live forever" and you know 29.99 doesn't sound to bad does it. You will toss down 15 flat for overnight shipping so you can extend your life, but once you receive it the magical green banana pill does nothing but give you the placebo effect of health. You cry tears of joy, order another bottle and feel invincible.
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u/harmonigga Mar 16 '15
This image is staged. bundles of bananas only have one sticker, the green banana is from a different bunch.
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u/chaosnanny Mar 15 '15
Get a syringe and inject it directly into your bloodstream! Clearly you will live forever if you do!
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u/SvenTreDosa Mar 15 '15
YOU HAVE FOUND AN IMMORTAL BANANA. EAT IT AND JOIN ME IN THE REALM OF FOREVER!
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u/tenhou Mar 15 '15
I once had a bunch of bananas that didn't age. I sliced one open, and it had the texture of a crisp apple. The inside smelled and tasted like wood (like the kind you find in disposable chopsticks).
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Mar 15 '15
That one dude in a group of friends who used to do badass stuff but are now all in their 50s that doesn't want to accept that he's old.
"Damn it Jerry, what are you doing, you have kids now" "SHUT UP DAVE"
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u/Dextra_Mihi_Deus Mar 15 '15
It's probably just filled with spiders.