Most of the fruits we eat contain a seed of some sort. Mangoes have giant pits, apples have little ones. But bananas, you might have noticed, don’t have any. So what’s the deal?
Fruits contain seeds because that’s how their trees reproduce. An apple falls off the tree, the seeds get buried, and a new tree grows. But banana trees (actually giant herbaceous flowering plants) work differently. Every season, the plant dies after its fruit is harvested, and the small bulbs (called the suckers) growing out of the plant’s underground rhizome (called the corn) are then replanted, and new plants grow. Put simply, bananas don’t have seeds because they don’t need them.
Because all bananas have been propagated vegetatively (as this process is called), all bananas are sterile clones, and just about all of the bananas you find in the grocery store are a single breed, Cavendish. The quality is consistent because they’re all genetically identical, but that also makes them very prone to disease and parasites as resistance cannot be bred into them. So the banana breed that was predominant 50 years ago, called the Gros Michel, is all but extinct now because of a fungus. And though the Cavendish is naturally resistant to this fungus, word is that they don’t taste nearly as good as the Gros Michel.
FAQs
Most bananas sold in stores are of the Cavendish variety, which are commercial bananas that typically produce no seeds. That's because, instead of two sets of genes, they've been modified to have three sets of genes, called a "triploid," to create a seedless variety.
Why did bananas become seedless? ›
Hybridizing distant banana relatives produced plants that possessed three sets of chromosomes, rather than two. This rendered the progeny plant sterile and ensured it would produce fleshy, seedless fruits.
Why did they take the seeds out of bananas? ›
Bananas found in grocery stores are typically seedless because they are of the Cavendish variety, which is propagated through suckers, cloning or tissue culture. This method ensures that the bananas have the desired taste, texture, and appearance, but it also results in them being mostly seedless.
Do bananas have a lot of seeds? ›
Bananas indeed have seeds, although they are not prominent as in other fruits, and for all practical purposes, they can be classified as seedless. These tiny seeds, often unseen and unnoticed by consumers, are vestigial remnants from wild bananas, where seeds were more pronounced and functional.
Which fruit has no seed? ›
Common varieties of seedless fruits include watermelons, tomatoes, and grapes (such as Termarina rossa). Additionally, there are numerous seedless citrus fruits, such as oranges, lemons and limes. A recent development over the last twenty years has been that of seedless sweet peppers (Capsicum annuum).
How many seeds do bananas have? ›
Answer and Explanation: The banana plant does not contain any seeds, as it reproduces asexually from the parent. Cultivated bananas, or ones that are farmed for human consumption, reproduce asexually through a process called vegetative propagation.
Which fruit has no seeds and no skin? ›
Answer: One fruit that has no seed and no outer cover is the banana. Bananas are classified as parthenocarpic fruits, which means they develop without fertilization. They do produce tiny black specks, which are often mistaken for seeds, but these are actually small, sterile remnants and not viable seeds.
Did the first bananas have seeds? ›
The bananas we enjoy today are far better than the original wild fruit which contained many large, hard seeds and not much tasty pulp. Bananas as we know them began to be developed in Africa about 650 AD.
Why do watermelons not have seeds? ›
“Seedless watermelons are grown from seeds that are produced by crossing watermelon lines to produce plants that have an odd number of chromosomes,” Adelberg said. “Because of the odd number of chromosomes, these plants are sterile and do not produce mature seed.”
Can you plant a banana? ›
If you are determined to grow bananas from seeds be aware it is challenging as they will require very precise tropical conditions! You can take a banana rhizome, called a banana pup, and grow a new banana plant via that method.
As it turns out, some varieties used to have seeds, but they were bred so that they no longer need them to reproduce — because bananas are cloned. That's right: All modern commercial bananas are sterile.
How rare are banana seeds? ›
although banana plants are clones, very occasionally they can be persuaded to produce seeds through a painstaking process of hand pollination. Only one fruit in three hundred will produce a seed, and of these seeds only one in three will have the correct chromosomal configuration to allow germination.
Is a banana a nut? ›
Botanically speaking, a banana is both a berry and a fruit. (Remember, if it's a berry, it's also a fruit by default.) Here's the deal: The banana flower contains one ovary, which grows into a single banana. The banana also has a somewhat soft skin, juicy flesh, and many tiny seeds.
Is a banana a fruit or a berry? ›
Berries are a subcategory of fruits, the sweet, fleshy, seed-holding structures of a flowering plant. Bananas develop from a flower with a single ovary and have a soft skin, fleshy middle and small seeds. As such, they meet all botanical requirements of a berry and can be considered both a fruit and berry.
What happens if you plant a banana? ›
TWhen a banana is planted in the soil, it begins a process of decomposition that over time significantly enriches the soil. This decomposition releases a plethora of organic matter, an invaluable asset for soil health.
Are seedless bananas genetically modified? ›
It is important to emphasize that seedless fruits are not genetically modified organisms (GMOs)—it's simply taking advantage of a natural (though infrequent) occurrence, manipulating future growth by preventing fertilization, and then capitalizing on the outcome through modern-day practices.
Are bananas originally seedless? ›
About 7000 years ago, bananas were not the seedless, fleshy fruits we know today. The flesh was pitted with black seeds and nearly inedible. Instead, people ate the banana tree's flowers or its underground tubers.
How do banana plants reproduce without seeds? ›
Vegetative Method
Commercial bananas are seedless and propagated exclusively by vegetative means. The banana has a reduced underground stem, called the rhizome, which bears several buds. Each of these buds sprouts and forms its own pseudostem and a new bulbous rhizome. These daughter plants are called suckers.
