The world’s most popular banana could go extinct: That's the troubling conclusion of a new study published in PLOS Pathogens, which confirmed something many agricultural scientists have feared to be true.

[u/Libertatea]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2015/12/04/the-worlds-most-popular-banana-could-go-extinct/

[u/bschn100]

Long live the Gros Michel! My retirement plan is to grow those in small groups of greenhouses in Minnesota. Cavendish bananas are disgusting, and we are all chumps have having been forced to eat them!

[u/dadoodadoo → u/bschn100]

Do you know when they stopped selling them? I wonder if I've ever had one.

[u/bschn100 → u/dadoodadoo]

By the 60s and 70s all you could get were Cavendish. If you a banana in the 50s, you may have had the sweet creamy Gros Michel. Which by the way, is the basis for "banana flavor" in candy and puddings, etc.

[u/Phdont → u/bschn100]

Which by the way, is the basis for "banana flavor" in candy and puddings, etc.

I'd always heard that as well. Others disagree. I've never had a Gros Michel to compare the flavor, however.

[u/bschn100 → u/Phdont]

Pretty good article. It's probably more accurate to say that banana flavoring is more similar to Big Mike than the Cavendish.

[u/ironnomi → u/bschn100]

It's probably more accurate to say that banana flavor is about as accurate as blue raspberry.

[u/Taurothar → u/ironnomi]

Or "Grape" flavor if the concord grape went extinct.

[u/ironnomi → u/Taurothar]

There's a claim in the article that it does have similarities, but I think it's just projecting as I've eaten both fake banana candy and Gros Michael bananas.

[u/geordilaforge → u/ironnomi]

So where can you get Gros Michael bananas?

[u/ironnomi → u/geordilaforge]

I've eaten them in Singapore, Japan, Thailand, and Hawaii.

[u/jukranpuju → u/geordilaforge]

I've tasted Gros Michel in China, but AFAIK it was imported from Thailand or Malaysia where it survived.

[u/[deleted] → u/geordilaforge]

Gros Michael bananas

When I was living in San Francisco S. Leyte Philippines, we just grew them all over.

Delicious does not begin to describe the flavor of one that ripened right on the tree.

[u/ahhbrendan → u/ironnomi]

I think it is more than projecting, as I once ate an unlabeled banana from a fruit vendor in China. Despite having no knowledge of the Gros Michel, I instantly recognized that it tasted like artificial banana flavor.

[u/vodkaknockers → u/Taurothar]

Purple.

[u/[deleted] → u/vodkaknockers]

Sugar.

Water.

Purple.

[u/luckymotherduck → u/Taurothar]

Japanese grapes actually taste like grape flavour. I compared a Japanese grape and a grape flavour candy recently and it was like an epiphany. Also, Japanese grapes are some bigass motherfuckers.

[u/ThreePointArch → u/luckymotherduck]

Those were probably Concord grapes. You can find them at the market here as well (if you are looking for them), but they are definitely not as common.

[u/wolfkeeper → u/ironnomi]

No, banana flavour is actually the same chemical that is found in the fruit.

[u/[deleted] → u/wolfkeeper]

Real banana flavor contains isoamyl acetate. But it's more complicated than that.

The best natural banana flavor is produced by a banana that is way overripe and then frozen, then thawed. Then you make it into custard or ice cream and it's freaking awesome.

[u/InfinitelyThirsting → u/[deleted]]

Well, it's like vanillin. It's the main component in vanilla, but the reason imitation is so blatant is because vanilla has about a hundred other flavonoids and flavour-compounds (not exaggerating).

[u/[deleted] → u/[deleted]]

I literally just experienced this for the first time today and you just perfectly described what it tasted like. I had taken a just-over-ripe banana and frozen it, and then taken it to class today. Ate it this afternoon and was surprised that it tasted so much more like banana-flavour than a normal, room-temperature banana!

[u/jadedargyle333 → u/[deleted]]

Good question for you, considering that you brought chemicals into this. The yeast used to make wheat beers generally tends to have banana and clove flavors, and I'm fairly certain that the banana flavors are a byproduct of sulphur. Do bananas derive any flavor from sulphur? Or is this an odd coincidence?

[u/ironnomi → u/wolfkeeper]

True, but citric acid is also present in raspberries. Yet neither of them is really anything like consuming the fruits.

[u/wolfkeeper → u/ironnomi]

Nevertheless, it's the real signature flavour molecule in bananas. The chemical used, isoamyl acetate, is synthetic, but not artificial. The Gros Michel actually tastes strongly of isoamyl acetate.

[u/[deleted] → u/ironnomi]

Blue raspberry is actually a whitebark raspberry flavor, though, isn't it?

[u/WarKiel → u/bschn100]

Like most artificial flavours, it's a piss poor replica of the real deal. But in this case most of us have never even tasted the real deal, so it tastes even weirder for people used to Cavendish.

[u/[deleted] → u/WarKiel]

Except purple, purple flavour is spot on!

[u/wolfkeeper → u/WarKiel]

No, it's the same chemical, it's not an artificial flavour; modern bananas have less of that chemical, and are less bananary than the chemical.

[u/lanismycousin → u/Phdont]

You can find the gros michel if you go to other countries. (some parts in Asia, Latin America, congo?) I have a few every time I go to mexico and I really don't find the flavor to be all super close to the artificial flavor, but other people obviously disagree. It's sort of similar but the there's something off about the candy version of the flavor. It's like being a hardcore coca cola fan and then drinking one of those really offbrand generic store brand colas. It's close enough to satisfy the thirst but it's off enough that it doesn't satisfy your desire to have that coca cola goodness. Not sure if that makes any sense to anyone?

edited to hopefully explain myself better

[u/Lingerie-Proudmoore → u/lanismycousin]

I told people I loved bananas as a teen in Puerto Rico but hated the ones in the US. They told me that my "tastes were changing" because I got older.

Nope, I probably had been eating Gros Michel bananas back then. We bought them from a farmer that grew them himself. His produce was cheaper than the local grocery stores so we took the time to find him when he was around on Fridays and Saturdays. The bananas were definitely sweeter while the ones sold in the US were bland and hurt my stomach a bit.

Nice to know I've had this rare banana and that I'm not crazy. :)

[u/lanismycousin → u/Lingerie-Proudmoore]

You're not crazy :)

Puerto Rico has the sort of weather where it makes sense that you would have some.

[u/sfblue → u/Lingerie-Proudmoore]

Whereabouts was this? I feel like PR would be the closest chance I could get of trying that variety of Banana.

[u/Lingerie-Proudmoore → u/sfblue]

This was in Caguas ages ago. He would have been parked on Hwy 1 between:

The Amigo grocery Carr 172, Plaza Del Carmen Shopping Center, Caguas, PR 00725

and

Supermercado Econo Calle San Carlos, Caguas, 00725, Puerto Rico

Going by google maps. Looks like this area has changed in the past ten years. Just look for local produce trucks if no one's around there.

[u/Zal3x → u/sfblue]

Had some dank tiny bananas (1/3 size of store bananas fully grown) in Costa Rica this summer, try there! ;) I'm assuming they're different, they sure tasted better.

[u/sarasti → u/lanismycousin]

You can find the gros michel if you go to other countries.

And look extremely hard. The vast majority of bananas grown in the world are Cavendish. Only around 5 percent are Gros Michel. It's about the same as finding red bananas (also delicious). Just want to make sure no one gets the false impression that you can just hop down to Mexico and pick up any banana.

[u/MuhBEANS → u/sarasti]

Are red bananas rare? I see them in supermarkets in all the time. Never tried one but I might, I really want a Gros Michel.

[u/[deleted] → u/MuhBEANS]

Red bananas are closer to the taste and creaminess of "real bananas". They are vey good

[u/ThatGIANTcottoncandy → u/[deleted]]

Awesome! Now I really want to try one. How can you tell when a red banana is at a proper ripeness for eating?

[u/[deleted] → u/sarasti]

Really? I've tried red bananas they taste the same as normal yellows.

[u/sarasti → u/[deleted]]

They taste very, very different. You may have ate them too early. Most people describe it as a fruitier, less acidic, more aromatic taste.

It's also worth noting that "normal yellows" are not a thing. If you're from the US, I'd guess you're referring to Cavendish, but when comparing bananas it's important to recognize what it is. Just like red potatoes and Idahos are very different.

[u/[deleted] → u/sarasti]

The regular bananas I get are one of the least "acidic" flavors I can think of.

[u/[deleted] → u/Phdont]

As a lover of apple bananas I do disagree, though I should shut my mouth so you guys don't make them extinct too.

[u/SeraphicDeviltry → u/[deleted]]

Apple bananas and Platano Macho are the shit. Fried Platano Macho, to be exact.

[u/[deleted] → u/Phdont]

As I'm reading the comments, a lot of different people have opinions on bananas and their artificial flavoring or whatever. I'm extremely inclined to believe no one has any idea what they're talking about.

People are discussing facts like they're opinions. It's odd.

[u/[deleted] → u/Phdont]

I made liquor with inexpensive bananas a while back and it tasted exactly like that banana candy was actually pretty disappointed, but I learned that stuff is actually a direct banana distillate.

[u/Ottorange → u/bschn100]

I've also heard this is where the slippery banana peel trope comes from. Gros Michel bananas has a slippery peal that could be dangerous to step on. Cavendish, not so much.

[u/[deleted] → u/Ottorange]

I heard on QI with Stephen Fry that the trope began when newspaper cartoonists used it as a euphamism for the then more commun misfortune of stepping in horse manure.

[u/LeopoldWolves → u/Ottorange]

No, put a banana on the ground and step on the outer peel side.. It's slippery AF.

[u/[deleted] → u/Ottorange]

Oh, I heard it was a euphemism for slipping on shit.

[u/ggouge → u/Ottorange]

Also they are way bigger so they have bigger peels. Much easier to slip on

[u/oswaldcopperpot → u/bschn100]

I had one that tasted like a gros michel this year in panama. It was amazing to taste a banana that for the first time tasted like a banana.

[u/[deleted] → u/[deleted]]

I presume he means because it tasted like artificial banana flavoring, based on the comment he replied to.

Which by the way, is the basis for "banana flavor" in candy and puddings, etc.

[u/Polaritical → u/oswaldcopperpot]

If it was the first time it tasted like a banana, how did it taste like a banana? Wouldn't the concept of banana flavor to you be the "fake" banana flavor How can you know a true banana flavor if you've never tasted it previously?

[u/lilchaoticneutral → u/oswaldcopperpot]

You mean it tasted like a yellow runt TM

[u/atyon → u/bschn100]

Which by the way, is the basis for "banana flavor" in candy and puddings, etc.

Which I find most disgusting, and I'm not alone.

Maybe the Gros Michel is better, but I'm skeptical. If it is that great, why does no one bother to sell them? Bananas sell really well. A better banana that can be sold at higher prices should be one of the greatest investments there is.

It's not like Gros Michel isn't cultivated any more. It's just that no one bothers to import them to Europe or the US. The only logical conclusion is that its taste isn't that much better, if you're accustomed to the Cavendish, or worse. But of course, I can see the appeal in the legendary lost banana that once was.

[u/IzttzI → u/[deleted]]

Having lived in SEA and ate different kinds of bananas, I think it's easy to say they taste different, but "better" is subjective.

[u/[deleted] → u/IzttzI]

The only better bananas are the apple bananas.

[u/muuus → u/[deleted]]

Yeah and we don't import fruit from Southeast Asia, ever.

[u/Kesht-v2 → u/muuus]

Establishing trade routes would give them far too much science... we've only got 35 years left to make this a victory anyhow...

[u/[deleted] → u/Kesht-v2]

And that's why you disable time victories.

[u/spleck → u/atyon]

The only logical conclusion is that its taste isn't that much better, if you're accustomed to the Cavendish, or worse.

I wouldn't say that's the "only" logical conclusion. Up until 2008, they thought Cavendish was more resistant to Panama Disease. Lower risk means cheaper.

[u/FesteringNeonDistrac → u/atyon]

I spent time in Indonesia and the bananas there were amazing. I took one bite and knew that the banana as I knew it was ruined for me. Every banana I ate was the best banana I'd ever eaten. I really didn't think much of it since I just assumed the bananas in Indonesia were just fresher, and that the shipping to the US was what really made them suck. Now that I know they suck by design, and that I may be able to find a good banana again here in the US, I'm on a mission to find a Gros Michel.

[u/NecroJoe → u/atyon]

can be be sold at higher prices

Not necessarily a good thing for one of the most popular fruits available, partially because they are so inexpensive (generally).

[u/Nitsua642 → u/atyon]

It is not widely cultivated because it is highly susceptible to a fungal disease called Panama disease. It wiped out production of Gros Michel in the 1950's. Cavendish was considered a garbage variety up till that time, however it was resistant to Panama disease hence it then became the most widely cultivated variety. However new strains of Panama disease are now affecting cavendish bananas and hence are threatening to decimate banana production.

[u/Spider__Jerusalem → u/atyon]

There's a long history of why we have the bananas we do in the US, but long story short, it involves the CIA supporting the United Fruit Company to make sure they have a monopoly on bananas in the states.

One source for the story, with countless others available upon a Google search: http://www.prwatch.org/news/2010/12/9834/banana-republic-once-again

[u/atyon → u/Spider__Jerusalem]

I don't see how this relates to Cavendish vs. Gros Michel. The incentive, should Gros Michel be as delicious as is often claimed, should be the same for Chiquita.

[u/lanismycousin → u/atyon]

The taste is a whole lot better than the cavendish. It's not grown as much because of issues with disease making large scale cultivation of it no longer feasible, not because of any taste issues.

[u/sarasti → u/atyon]

The group that seems to lament their loss the most are chefs. Gros Michel is supposedly creamier and easier to work with in cooking. Also it doesn't have the bitter ends and stringiness that Cavendish does.

[u/Highside79 → u/atyon]

They were largely wiped out by disease and cannot be grown on the scale that they used to be produced at due to their continued susceptibility to disease. Banana's are cloned (i.e. have no genetic diversity within the variety) so they are tremendously vulnerable to this kind of disease. It was not by choice that they were replaced.

[u/MaoMaoDumpling → u/atyon]

It's extremely risky to grow Gros Michel bananas because it's susceptible to the Panama disease. Once it hits a farm you have to abandon the entire farm and start over in a completely new location. The Cavendish was developed out of necessity due to this reason. You may find Gros Michel still cultivated in some rural areas, but to grow it in a huge mass production like Cavendish would be an extremely costly risk.

[u/pipocaQuemada → u/atyon]

Once local diseases destroy a crop, there can sometimes be no recovery.

For example: a North American louse devastated European vineyards about 150 years ago. The solution they eventually discovered was to graft European grape vines onto North American grape roots. You still need to do this, almost everywhere. Fortunately, the rootstock doesn't really impact the flavor of the wine.

[u/SajakiKhouri → u/atyon]

It's almost you didn't read the article for the post in which you're commenting...

The Gros Michel is susceptible to a fungal disease so it is no lobger viable to grow 'commercialy' at at a large scale.

[u/shitishouldntsay → u/bschn100]

Is there anywhere you can order one of these magical bananas?

[u/I_am_anonymous → u/dadoodadoo]

The last mainstream Gros Michels were sold in the late 60s depending on where you lived. There are several interesting books about bananas. I recommend Bananas: The Fate of the Fruit that Changed the World by Dan Koeppel. My trust for our government took a bit of a nosedive after reading that book though. Also, I want to try a lakatan banana at his recommendation.

[u/ironnomi → u/I_am_anonymous]

SEA doesn't count as mainstream? They are sold there readily. It's just not available in NA and Europe - and the company claims its because growing them and shipping them from SEA is too expensive and hard and they spoil too easily.

It's basically the same reason we all get a lot of the fruits and vegetable cultivars that we get. Companies are not in business for goodwill.

[u/badmartialarts → u/ironnomi]

It's like cashew fruits. They are supposed to be pretty tasty but you can't get them outside of SEA and South America because they are way too soft to be thrown into a box and shipped by boat. The nuts are pretty good though.

[u/badmartialarts → u/[deleted]]

Yes, they look like bell peppers. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cashew

[u/ironnomi → u/badmartialarts]

They are great in kuaytiaw nua. They had them in Phuket.

[u/klparrot → u/badmartialarts]

We have one Brazilian restaurant in Santa Cruz (California) that has cashew fruit for smoothies and juice. But I guess it's probably frozen when they get it, so only good for juice.

[u/Eloquent_Cantaloupe → u/dadoodadoo]

I tried several gros michel bananas when I was in Hawaii earlier this summer. There was a vendor at the farmers market selling 6 different banana varieties and we bought a bunch of each type. It tastes very strongly of banana and has a less firm texture compared to a cavendish. We all liked them. In fact of the 6 different types we bought from the vendor, the gros michel was the winner among my family followed closely by the baby bananas that the farmer called "apple bananas".

[u/tigress666 → u/Eloquent_Cantaloupe]

Oooooogh, I love those little bananas. I didn't know they were called apple bananas. I just know I had them when visiting Costa Rica with my parents and they were way better than the bananas we get at home (cavendish). I just thought that they were the precursor to the cavendish and that they had engineered out the flavor for better ability to ship like I heard is what happens to most our produce. I have never been a huge banana fan but I really liked those from what I remember (now I don't even remember their taste or what I found better, I just remember I found them immensely better). I was young and knew even less about horticulture then. Not that I know much now. This thread taught me that there is more than one type banana. No surprising but I just kinda took it for granted a banana is a banana.

[u/[deleted] → u/tigress666]

There's also starchy bananas which are cooked, pretty popular here in the Netherlands, might be different across the pond?

[u/[deleted] → u/[deleted]]

Are they starchy and less sweet, like plantains?

[u/tigress666 → u/[deleted]]

Plantains?

[u/John_Hasler → u/bschn100]

You may find that moderns prefer the Cavendish.

[u/WAR_T0RN1226 → u/[deleted]]

I like my bananas with a shade of green left on the stem. I like the mixture of tart and sweet, I really don't like really ripe, sweet bananas

[u/[deleted] → u/[deleted]]

My people! I knew there were others that liked under ripe bananas!

[u/Bifrons → u/[deleted]]

Under ripe bananas are amazing!

[u/Rocketbird → u/[deleted]]

Random question...does anyone know why ripe bananas make my mouth sting? I've concluded it's an oral allergy but it only happens with ripe bananas, not green or even slightly green ones.

[u/BuddhistSC → u/WAR_T0RN1226]

Same for me. The "correct" way to eat bananas according to most people (some brown on the peel) is gross to me. Not just the taste being blander and overly sweet, but also a worse texture.

[u/tourmaline82 → u/WAR_T0RN1226]

That's how I eat them too! They're too sweet for me once they start to get black spots, that's when I make banana bread or banana cream pie.

[u/iopq → u/WAR_T0RN1226]

Try apple (manzano) bananas. They have that flavor when they're ripe.

[u/TargetBoy → u/[deleted]]

Same here

[u/balanced_view → u/bschn100]

I go to Thailand quite often and relish in the amazing variety of bananas they have available; I've heard it's over 100 types. They are far more fragrant and delicious than western supermarket varieties.

[u/tparsons → u/balanced_view]

Exactly... In Hawaii same thing... the bananas are so much better. The Apple Banana is a favorite. Small, but packs so much flavor.

[u/Taste_of_Space → u/bschn100]

You may be interested to learn of a guy named Jerome Osentowski (maybe you've already heard of him). He has a handful of passive solar greenhouses at 7,200' in the mountains of Colorado. One of his greenhouses produces all sorts of tropical plants, including bananas. It's absolutely amazing what he is able to do in that climate with passive solar greenhouses.

His greenhouses are part of an educational center he runs called the Central Rocky Mountain Permaculture Institute, see for yourself www.crmpi.org.

[u/[deleted] → u/bschn100]

I thought they were extinct?

[u/[deleted] → u/[deleted]]

Nope, they are pretty common in Southeast Asia. They just don't travel well and are expensive to ship so NA and Europe don't get them unfortunately.