Names: banana

Appearance: They are phallic shaped curved fruits with a peel-able outer skin that is green when unripe and yellow to browning when ripe. It has a white mushy sweet flesh with tiny seeds.

Tags: banana | berry | fruits

Bananas are a popular commercial fruit with different cultivars like 'Dwarf Cavendish' and 'Grand Nain' (the "Chiquita banana"). Since the 1950s, these cultivars have been the most internationally traded bananas. They replaced the Gros Michel banana (commonly known as Kampala banana in Kenya and Bogoya in Uganda).

The fruits of the Cavendish bananas are eaten raw, used in baking, fruit salads, and to complement foods. The outer skin is partially green when bananas are sold in food markets, and turns yellow when the fruit ripens. As it ripens the starch is converted to sugars turning the fruit sweet. When it reaches its final stage (stage 7), brown/black "sugar spots" develop. When overripe, the skin turns black and the flesh becomes mushy. Due to their phallic shape, they are sometimes used in sexual education classes to demonstrate the correct usage of a condom.