Bananas

The ingredient Due to their myriad health properties, convenient packaging and great flavour, "perfect" is a word often used.

Since bananas can be boiled, steamed, grilled, fried, pickled, dried or eaten fresh as nature intended, there's no limit to what you can make.

Have you ever wondered why professional tennis players sometimes munch bananas between games? No, it's unlikely that they're sponsored by Del Monte. It is, in fact, all about nutrition. Bananas contain high levels of fructose, which can be digested quickly and turned into energy. Whether that conversion happens swiftly enough to make an impact during a match, however, is uncertain. But we do know that tennis players eat bananas to replenish their levels of potassium, which helps to prevent muscle cramps. And on top of that, bananas happen to be packaged in a robust, practical, attractive and easy-to-open organic and biodegradable sleeve - also known as a banana skin - which is far handier to take onto Centre Court than a pineapple.

Let's get back to those health benefits. The potassium in bananas is also good for helping to reduce blood pressure, regulate heart function and decrease the likelihood of strokes. It can promote healthy bones and help to balance body fluids. Bananas can soothe and guard against stomach ulcers and indigestion, they can protect eyesight and are good for your kidneys. There's no cholesterol or fat in a banana, but plenty of folic acid and vitamins B6 and C - not to mention a protein called tryptophan that's converted into serotonin, which can relieve the symptoms of depression. Even the white stringy parts (phloem bundles) that run the length of the banana between the fruit and the skin harbour nutrients. And perhaps most satisfyingly of all, the banana only contains, on average, about 110 calories, making it perfect to snack on between meals.

Due to their myriad health properties, convenient packaging and great flavour, "perfect" is a word often used to describe bananas. But there really are few fruits as wondrous. Take, for example, the fact that bananas make ideal baby food: they're soft, sweet and easy to digest, plus they impart high levels of energy for young bodies to grow. Then think about what happens when you get older and your teeth fall out. What better to slide between your gums than a nice, soft banana? And this is just the fruit itself - what about the rest of the banana plant?

The roots are often chopped, processed and made into fertiliser. In India and South East Asia, food is cooked in and served upon banana leaves, especially as a decorative aspect of Buddhist and Hindu ceremonies. The leaves also make very handy wrappers, containers and trays, and dry banana leaves are often used to seal jar lids. The sap of a banana plant can be used for dying fabrics, and the stalks often double as stirring utensils or toys for children.

But what about eating bananas, I hear you all cry? Since they can be boiled, steamed, grilled, fried, pickled, dried or eaten fresh as nature intended, there's no limit to what you can make. Which just about makes bananas more versatile then any other fruit - game, set and match.
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