Banana History

• The origin of bananas is traced back to the Malaysian jungles of Southeast Asia, where so many varieties and names for the banana are in that area.



• Some horticulturists suspect that the banana was the earth's first fruit. Banana plants have been in cultivation since the time of recorded history. One of the first records of bananas dates back to Alexander the Great's conquest of India where he first discovered bananas in 327 B.C.



• In some lands bananas were considered the principal food. Early travelers and settlers would carry the roots of the plant as they migrated to the Middle East and Africa. From there Portuguese traders carried banana roots to the Canary Islands, where bananas are still grown commercially.



• When Spanish explorers came to the New World, so did the banana. According to Spanish history, Friar Tomas de Berlanga brought the first banana root stocks to the Western Hemisphere.



• In 1516, Friar Tomas sailed to the Caribbean bringing banana roots with him; and planted bananas in the rich, fertile soil of the tropics, thus beginning the banana's future in American life.



• Bananas were officially introduced to the American public at the 1876 Philadelphia Centennial Exhibition. Each banana was wrapped in foil and sold for 10 cents. Before that time, bananas came to America on the decks of sailing ships as sailors took a few stems home after traveling in the Caribbean.



• In the late 1870's, with the invention of the telegraph and the development of the Central American railroads, the banana industry finally took shape. Systematized growing fields and refrigerated steamships signaled the end of an era when bulky full stems of bananas were shipped on sailing vessels.