Bananas– The war on wilt, :Bananas and humans

Bananas– The war on wilt, Bananas and humans Bananas– The war on wilt ;Rody Blom, Saskia Bollerman, Janna Horjus, Koen Rurenga
Bananas are very healthy, eating bananas as part of a regular diet can cut the risk of death by strokes by as much as 40% (Amit and Shailandra, 2006).
In 2004, the global production of bananas was 106 million tonnes, which made it the second most important fruit crop of the world, only after citrus (FAOSTAT, 2004).
The top banana-producing countries of the world are India (15% of total production), China, Ecuador, Brazil and Philippines (FAO, 2003).
Bananas provides 10 to 27% of the daily calorie intake of the population in several countries and helps provide year-round food security (Nayar, 2010).
In 2011 bananas were the world’s fifth most important food crops after maize, rice, wheat and cassava (Tripathi, 2011).
Nelson et al. (2006) stated that the plant genus Musa is of extraordinary significance to human societies due to its fruit bananas.
Musa species grow in a wide range of environments and have varied human uses, ranging from the edible bananas of the tropics to fibre and ornamental plants, although often named differently in many cultures.
Musa species attained a portion of central importance within Pacific societies:
the plant is a source of food, beverages, fermentable sugars, medicines, flavourings, cooked foods, fragrance, rope, shelter, clothing and numerous ceremonial and religious uses (Nelson et al., 2006).
Bananas are the second best sold tropical fruit in The Netherlands (GFK, 2014).
Dutch people eat about 720 million bananas a year, mostly from the cultivar ‘Giant Cavendish’, also known as the dessert banana, which can be eaten raw.
Though, in many tropical countries they prefer bananas that have to be baked before they can be eaten, so called plantains.
Bananas may be differentiated from plantains on the basis of moisture content, with bananas generally averaging 83 percent moisture and plantains 65 percent, but intermediate examples may also be found (Lessard, 1992).