Fruit

Originally, the banana (Musa sp.) came from South Asia and the Pacific. Yet by the 16^th century, it appeared throughout the tropics worldwide. Back then, the uses for the many species and cultivars ranged from fruits to vegetables all the way to fibre.

Bananas continuously develop shoots. Each one blooms and bears fruit just once. The mighty inflorescence has brownish-red bracts, which the male, female and / or perfect (both male and female) flowers hide beneath. Dessert bananas develop fruits completely without pollination. There are no seeds. Look closely: the banana plants have various appearances. So do their flowers- and -fruits. Why are the fruits curved? Quite simply: the young bananas grow towards the light!

The Catholic University in Leuven / Belgium currently has more than 1,500 banana varieties in their gene bank – including one from Oman. You can also find these here: on the way to the cocoa house, look for them in the main bed on the right. Can it really be that the world’s largest banana collection is in Belgium?