Bananas are one of the most popular and highly consumed fruits in the world today, most notably because of their sweet taste. However, most people always ask why bananas are widely classified as fruits. It is simply because of the seeds from which they grow, but do bananas have seeds?
Yes, bananas have seeds! The yellow part you usually peel and eat is a fruit as it contains the seeds of the bananas. Before now, most people had not seen any nexus between bananas and seeds, yet, not only do they have a connection, but bananas have seeds in them.
Because of man’s impact on its breeding, the seeds are no longer as big and visible in bananas as they used to be, but they are still present in bananas.
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Do Bananas Have Seeds?
To answer this question depends on the variety we are discussing. In other words, before the increasingly ongoing man’s impact on bananas, through crossbreeding, bananas not only possess seeds but can be grown from their seeds.
However, the present commercial bananas have been genetically bred, thus cannot be grown from seeds. Even if they have seeds (of course, they do), the seeds are dormant, therefore, are not part of the reproduction process from which new bananas are produced.
On the contrary, the seeds in wild bananas are very visible, larger, and great in their numbers and contribute to the reproduction process of a new banana plant if their mother plant breeds them.
Generally, all bananas do have seeds. Sometimes the seeds are visible; sometimes, they’re not. But the only difference is whether the seeds are fertile or sterile.
Do Real Bananas Have Seeds?
We have wide varieties of bananas (over 1000 varieties), which are grown worldwide. Amazingly, several of these varieties reproduce asexually.
That is to say that their seeds have no business with their propagation. How is it possible, and what are the real phenomena behind this?
Like we earlier stated, most bananas have seeds, including those bought from stores. If you observe closely, you’ll get to discover several tiny black dots in the middle area of the banana. The dots form the sterile seeds that are no longer useful for the plants.
However, in the few cases where you don’t find even a single seed in a banana, it is because the banana has been genetically modified.
The hybridization is carried out to ensure that they constantly produce fleshy and tasty fruits, which is done through a sacrifice; they’ll no longer have seeds.
Other than that, the ancient wild varieties of bananas, which are real bananas, possess big black seeds. These varieties feature seeds in their large numbers, but unlike the genetically modified ones, they have less edible flesh.
It wasn’t very perfect for commercial or edible use, hence the need for selective cross-breeding at the expense of seeds.
Can Bananas Grow From Seed?
Yes, bananas can grow from seed! Commercial bananas are usually propagated by rhizomes. As the banana plant grows to maturity and produces fruit, the original plant (which is an herb, not a tree) collapses down to the ground, growing what is called "banana pups."
A banana plant that is maturing makes rhizomes, which become small plants (the pups) that you can take away from the mother plant and transplant.
However, it’s worth noting that some non-commercial banana varieties have seeds. Even though they are not often used for commercial production, banana plants can be grown from seed.
Where Can You Find The Seeds of Bananas?
The answer to this question depends on the banana type you are focusing on. There are two types of bananas: Diploids and Triploids.
Getting acquainted with both types of bananas will give you a better understanding of where you can find banana seeds.
Diploids are banana fruits that you can easily slice into several parts longitudinally. Pressing this kind of banana will cause it to break into double equal parts from the middle lengths.
Today, many wild varieties of bananas can be categorized under diploid type, and it has a greater number of genuine seeds.
Meanwhile, under the diploid banana type, you can find its seeds close to the middle, although it can sometimes consume larger space in the banana.
On the other hand, the triploids are banana fruits that can also be sliced into different parts, but in this case, it is divided into three equal parts rather than two.
Most modern bananas can be classified under the triploid banana type. Unlike that of the diploid type, there are no seeds in the triploid banana, and it contains just a few sterile seeds, which are tiny and very few.
Here, the triploid banana seeds can be found just close to the central lining of the triploid bananas.
How Many Seeds Does A Banana Have?
This is also a very interesting question. It depends on the particular banana variety you are focusing on. For instance, the Cavendish banana seeds vary between 0 to 6 seeds. Also, most of these seeds, if present, are hardly noticeable, which is why we can eat them without knowing it is there.
Invariably, the other varieties, like the modern-day bananas, feature seeds between the ranges of 3 to 15 seeds for each banana fruit.
Significantly, modern research shows that an average banana contains 9 seeds for each bunch, which is considerably low when you compare them to the 20 to 30 seeds for each fruit in wild bananas.
What Is the Size of Banana Seeds?
It is very important to know the size of banana seeds to enable you to take good note of them whenever you’re experimenting with a banana. Most banana seeds are quite bigger than black pepper.
Invariably, a banana seed can be as big as 0.7cm in diameter and as little as 0.1cm (sometimes even smaller). They come in various shapes: round, circular, spherical, elliptical, flat, or pointed.
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