Bananas have been an important food staple for thousands of years, but the bananas we eat today are very different from the bananas of the past. Modern cultivated bananas are almost exclusively seedless, meaning they lack the hard black seeds found in wild banana varieties. So when did bananas become seedless, and why?
When did bananas become seedless?
The short answer is that bananas gradually became seedless over thousands of years of cultivation by humans. Seeded bananas still exist in the wild, but early farmers began selectively breeding bananas that had small seeds or were seedless. This was done for several reasons:
- Seedless bananas have more edible flesh and higher yields per plant.
- Seedless varieties were easier to chew and more palatable.
- Ripe seeded bananas tend to split open when the seeds are mature, making them less shelf-stable.
Evidence suggests seedless bananas were being grown in Southeast Asia as early as 6,800-6,500 BC. These primitive seedless varieties eventually spread to other regions like India, Africa, and the Pacific Islands. By the 15th century AD, sweet seedless bananas had reached the New World and became firmly established as a major crop.
Why did seedless varieties dominate?
Once early seedless banana varieties like ‘Sucrier’ were established, they quickly became preferred for commercial growing, trade, and export. Seedless varieties had a number of advantages over seeded wild bananas:
- Higher fruit yield per plant and per land area planted.
- Larger fingers and fruit clusters.
- Thicker, creamier flesh with high sugar content.
- No hard seeds to chew around.
- Longer shelf life and better shipping and storage potential.
These superior agronomic traits made seedless bananas much more commercially viable on a large scale. And since almost all commercial banana growing uses vegetative propagation from rhizomes or cuttings, the seedless trait became fixed in place once selected. There was no longer a need to grow plants from seeds.
How do seedless bananas form without seeds?
Wild diploid banana plants have two sets of chromosomes and produce seeds normally through sexual reproduction. But most edible bananas are triploid, meaning they have three sets of chromosomes. This odd number of chromosome sets makes meiosis and normal seed production impossible.
Triploid bananas still produce flowers and pollen, but the pollen is sterile. When it lands on the flower’s own stigma, it stimulates development of the ovary and fruit flesh without actual fertilization. Cell divisions produce the characteristic fingers, but no seeds are formed.
What banana varieties are cultivated today?
The vast majority of bananas grown today are triploid mutants derived from two wild diploid varieties:
- Musa acuminata – contributed the A genome. Small, sweet fruit with thin skin.
- Musa balbisiana – contributed the B genome. More robust plants with thicker fruit skin.
Here are some of the most important triploid banana cultivar groups:
| Cultivar group | Genome | Uses |
|---|---|---|
| Cavendish | AAA | Most common dessert banana. Dwarf Cavendish is the familiar supermarket banana. |
| Gros Michel | AAA | Formerly the main export banana before Panama disease. Still grown but more rare. |
| Lady Finger | AAB | Flavor bananas used for cooking/baking. Pisang Raja is a popular type. |
| Plantain | AAB | Starchy bananas used for cooking. Many varieties exist. |
| Manzano | AAB | “Apple bananas.” Firm, sweet fruits with apple-like acidity. |
| Ice Cream | ABB | Thick-fleshed bananas with creamy texture. Used fresh or cooked. |
Within each group there are numerous varieties cultivated for specific characteristics – disease resistance, cold tolerance, fruit size, etc. But almost all share the triploid seedless trait that arose many centuries ago and became fixed in cultivated bananas.
Are there any seeded banana varieties?
Though uncommon, seeded edible bananas do exist. These are diploid cultivars with two sets of chromosomes, capable of producing seeds via pollination. Examples include:
- Pisang Klutuk – An Indonesian variety with very hard black seeds.
- Pisang Batu – A starchy cooking banana with whitish seeds.
- Goldfinger – A specialty dessert/snack banana with edible pulp around each seed.
Such varieties occupy tiny niches in banana growing regions today. But their existence proves that viable seeded bananas can still be propagated for those valuing diversity or curiosity about banana origins.
Could seedless bananas ever disappear?
Seedless bananas face some disease threats that could potentially wipe them out. Panama disease (Fusarium wilt) nearly eliminated the Gros Michel cultivar last century, and a new strain threatens Cavendish bananas today. Black sigatoka fungus is also a costly disease plaguing global banana production.
But while these threats can devastate individual cultivars through cloned monoculture, the overall diversity of triploid bananas makes their extinction unlikely. New resistant varieties will continue to be bred via cross-breeding wild diploid species. Tissue culture and cloning techniques also guard against loss of popular commercial types.
In a dire scenario where fruit production falters, seeds from diploid bananas offer a way to restart cultivation anew. The convenience of seedless fruit ensures most bananas will remain that way. But viable seeded forms remain a backup option to maintain future food security if needed.
Conclusion
In summary, bananas became seedless over thousands of years of selective breeding by early farmers favoring superior sterile mutants. Lack of seeds, higher yields, better flavor, and long shelf life made these triploid cultivars commercially advantageous for large-scale growing and trade, displacing wild seeded varieties. Most bananas today are seedless triploid clones, but diploid seeded forms still exist and provide genetic diversity. Though facing some disease threats, the overall resilience and backup options ensure bananas are likely to remain seedless for the foreseeable future.