History of Bananas

History of Bananas...where do we start?

Well, where were Bananas first cultivated for domestic use?

Southeast Asia, of course! Malaysia(where I'm at)is a Southeast Asian country.

A bit random geographical detail...but I digress...

Evidence found in Papua New Guinea shows that banana cultivation there dates back to possibly, 8000 BC. Wow! That is a long time ago!

This would mean the Western Highlands of Papua New Guinea was probably the first place were Bananas were first cultivated.

A whole of lot wild Bananas still grow in Papua New Guinea, Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines.

The first time Bananas were talked about in written history was in Buddhist texts in 600 BC. Then, the famous explorer, Alexander the Great found the fruit in India in 327 BC.

The very first organized plantations was said to exist in China way back in 200 AD. Yup...definitely a long time ago...

The History of Bananas continued with Islamic Conquerors bringing the Banana to Palestine and later on, Arab Merchants exposed most of Africa to Bananas.

Interestingly, the word Banana is of West African origin and was passed into the English language via Spanish or Portuguese.

After all that, banana cultivation exploded in most of the rest of the world thanks to Portuguese colonists who started banana plantations in the Atlantic Islands, Brazil and western Africa.

Thank God, for the pioneering Portuguese explorers, eh? ;)

Unfortunately for the poor Europeans, Bananas were not heard of in Europe until the Victorian Era and even then, only through merchant trade.

No delicious Banana Cakes were served in European countries then... Good thing, that's not the case anymore, eh?

These days, Bananas can be found in practically every market in the world without much trouble at all and hurrah for everyone!

That is, dear readers, the brief History of Bananas...phew...ok, lets have another slice of that delicious banana cake then.