Bananas are believed to have originated primarily in Malaysia about 4,000 years ago, thence they spread over an area from India to the Philippines and New Guinea.
People probably used bananas for food long before recorded history. The armies of Alexander the Great found the bananas growing in India in 327 BC.
Arabian traders introduced the banana plant into Africa at a very early date since Portuguese explorers who discovered the Guinea Coast of Africa found bananas growing there in 1482 A.D.
Then, soon after the discovery of the New World explorers took bananas from Africa to tropical America. Thus, the banana plant traveled more than half way around the world to reach the areas of tropical America where, today, about two thirds of the world’s bananas are produced.
It was not until later part of the 19th century that bananas were brought into the United States in quantities for sale in stores.
Even then only those people who lived near seacoast cities where bananas schooners docked tasted or saw bananas.
Bananas are more perishable than some other fruits; so specialized, rapid transport needed to be developed before the use banana became widespread.
Producing bananas and getting them to market on temperature areas of the world stimulated the creation of large banana plantations.
The first big name on banana export business was the United Fruit Company, formed in 1899, which in 1970 merged into United Brands.
Standard Fruit and Steamship Company was established in 1923 as a competitor to the United Fruit Company. In the early days of banana industry, the large landholdings and one –crop economics made these multinational campaniles important influences in some Latin American countries.
Origin and History of Banana
