The world may be losing its bananas-again

Banana lore has long held that the bright yellow variety of the fruit – the world’s fourth-most valuable food product after rice, wheat, and milk – is a mere shadow of the banana our grandparents would’ve enjoyed.

Over the last 50 years, the Cavendish has become the staple in grocery stores, but the recent study notes that the resistance the banana had to the Panama disease years ago against Panama disease does not have resistance to Tropical Race 4.

The problem is, bananas are seedless and are essentially all cloned from exactly the same plant – making them extremely vulnerable to disease.

A closer inspection on the fungus revealed that it is a clone of Panama disease, according to The Express Tribune.

Published in the PLOS Pathogens, the study said that protecting the banana production must start with exclusion, which requires accurate diagnosis.

However, it seems new strains of the Panama disease have evolved and developed and is now threatening the formerly considered disease-resistant cultivar. That year were introduced commercial bananas in order to replace the variety that was nearly completely destroyed by the fungus.

Some are describing the potential destruction in Latin America as a “bananapocalypse”, as more than 60 percent of the world’s bananas are grown in the tropical area.

What’s worse is Cavendish bananas are also monoculture, which means they too also clones of one another and lack genetic diversity. To limit the infection, it must be contained, something that hasn’t gone according to plan. Kema explained the information provided around the globe and the quarantine measures are apparently not enough, and this study is proof of that.

Essentially, history could repeat itself and the world could have to look toward an alternative banana in place of the fallen Cavendish.

According to “Banana: The Fate of the Fruit That Changed the World” author, Dan Koeppel, (via the Huffington Post), this species of banana has a “more robust taste” and is “more creamy”.

Tropical Race 4, likely related to the Tropical Race 1 that killed the Gros Michel, was first identified in the mid-Nineties after an outbreak in Taiwan.

“Monoculture to me is just as much a disease as TP4”, he mentioned.

Here’s something to make you go ape – bananas may go extinct.