The Domestication of the Banana

Bananas are native to Southeast Asia, and most likely contributed to the healthy diets of hunter gatherers for thousands of years. It is one of the oldest crops humans have consumed on the planet. The wild banana, though, is full of seeds and looks unattractive. How it went from being a wild fruit to a domesticated crop is a matter still up for some debate.

What we speculate is that the wild banana may not have originally been useful as a foodstuff. The husk of the banana provided important fibers needed for clothing and building materials. It was the ancient people’s need to utilize every possible resource that led humans to consuming bananas as food. Simply put, we were probably too hungry not to try. 

“Banana” appears to have African origins. The fruit didn’t spread too far until the Islamic period of history, when the crop was brought to India and the Middle East through expansion and trade. The Romans new of it, but preferred the fig over the banana a hundred times over. 

The banana also has meaning in myth and symbolism. Many Africans link the banana to fertility, and the tree is highly prized for its relation to birth. Chinese legend talked of the banana maiden, who had a strange and not-all-too clear relation to a real-life young maiden in ancient China. The Indians used bananas to bless marriage ceremonies too.

Today’s crops are nothing like they used to be. The banana’s shape and taste has changed dramatically as it is produced en masse.