abundance that its price is within the reach of the poorest classes. Great quantities of bananas are also grown in Cuba, but they are mostly consumed by the native population, forming one of the principal foods of the island.
The banana has perhaps less waste than almost any other fruit, as the whole of the inner portion is edible. In the green fruit there is a large proportion of starch, which gradually changes into invert sugar in the ripe fruit. In thoroughly mature bananas the quantity of sugar is relatively high and the quantity of starch correspondingly low. Bananas are not only eaten raw but also fried and in various other forms. The banana is a fruit which, when properly cared for, can be transported over long distances and kept for a long time. When properly prepared the banana forms a nutritious diet, probably equal in value to the same amount of solid matter contained in the common fresh fruits. One hundred grams may be taken as the average weight of the banana, although some of them are very much larger. About 70 percent of the banana is edible and 30 percent inedible, that is, the skin, which while not wholly inedible is usually rejected. The banana is essentially a carbohydrate food, the percentage of protein not usually rising above 1.3. Nearly all the carbohydrates in the ripe fruit consist of sugars which are present both as reducing and as cane sugars. The average total percentage of sugar present in the banana is a little over 20.
The composition of the banana is shown in the following table which contains the data of analyses of two samples bought in the open market in Washington.
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| Edible | Solids. | Total | Protein. | Ash.
| Portion. | | Sugars. | |
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|Percent.|Percent.|Percent.|Percent.|Percent.
Sample 1, | 62.10 | 26.13 | 21.71 | 1.13 | .84
Sample 2, | 64.50 | 26.24 | 21.76 | 1.21 | .86
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The analytical data were obtained upon the edible portion and not upon the whole fruit.
The bananas which are imported from Jamaica and Central America are represented by the analyses given above. They are commonly known as the Johnson banana. Smaller fruits with better flavors are grown in Cuba,—some of them are of a red color like the oronoco and colorado. The indiano is a large, yellow, angular fruit with a salmon-colored pulp and a rather disagreeable acid flavor.
With reference to the banana as a food product it is seen that, including the starch and digestible cellulose, it consists of at least 25 percent, in its edible portion, of carbohydrates suitable for food purposes. Its low content of protein indicates that it is not a well balanced ration, but should be eaten
