WEIRD FACTS ABOUT
BANANA
The banana plant is the largest known plant without a solid trunk.
Botanically it is not a fruit but a berry.
If we do classify them as fruit, however, bananas are by weight the world's second highest fruit crop, just ahead of grapes but behind oranges.
They contain more vitamin B6 than any other fresh fruit.
This is the vitamin most commonly associated with creating a good mood and may provide some justification for the latin name for the banana, which is Musa sapientum, which means 'fruit of the wise men'.
India and Brazil produce more bananas than any other countries.
Elephants in Burma have been known to silence bells hung round their neck by clogging them with mud so they won't be heard when stealing bananas.
In February 1946, a girl in Bridlington died after eating four bananas from among the first crop to reach Britain's shops after the war.
The first Banana-Eating championship in Estonia in 1997 was won by Mait Lepik, who ate ten bananas in three minutes.
His secret was to save time by eating the skins as well. The world record for the most bananas eaten in one hour is 81.
Bananas first went on sale in Britain on 10 April 1633. Three hundred and forty-seven years and one day later, Dr Canaan Banana became President of Zimbabwe.
European Commission Regulation (EC) No 2257/94 of 16 September 1994, which lays down quality standards for bananas, consists of 1,831 words including specifications for the length (not less than 14cm) and shape ("free from abnormal curvature") of the banana. It does not apply to plantains.
Because of their potassium content, bananas are slightly radioactive.
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