Calorie Content of Banana
Bananas are one of the most popular fruits in the world. Originally, bananas were from South East Asia, but they are now grown in almost all tropical countries, and exported elsewhere. They are probably the most popular fruit globally, after oranges and apples. Although most bananas are yellow, there are also reddish bananas.
Bananas deserve a special mention about their nutritional and calorie content because of their high carbohydrate content, which is much higher than most other fruits. In unripe green bananas, the flesh is almost entirely starch or complex carbohydrates, but as the banana ripens, some of it changes into sucrose, and fructose. Sugars can constitute up to one fifth of a ripe banana. Green unripe bananas are often used for cooking, in a similar fashion to potatoes.
All edible bananas in the world today come from crossbreeds of the two wild varieties, Musa acuminata and Musa balbisiana. The most popular variety of banana in the West is the Cavendish variety, but other types like Lacatan, Lady Finger bananas and sugar bananas are sweeter, because of their higher fructose and glucose content. These are eaten raw, while the plantain varieties are usually cooked before being eaten. The difference between all these varieties of bananas is mainly in their sugar, starch, and fiber content. Otherwise, they are all roughly speaking, nutritionally similar.
There are so many ways to cook bananas which reflects their popularity in many countries. Bananas are made into jam, coated with flour and deep fried, made into pancakes, ground up and made into juice, or simply eaten raw. Their thick skin protects them from damage, and allows bananas to be easily exported everywhere. Bruising is common in bananas but most of the time it is just mild, and you can disregard it.
Bananas have high potassium content, but are not particularly rich in any vitamin. The highest amounts of vitamins in bananas are those of vitamins B1, B2, and niacin. The dietary fiber in bananas is useful for healthy bowel functioning, and indeed, if you eat a lot of bananas, you’ll soon start to feel their mild laxative effect!
Nutrition-wise, a medium sized unpeeled banana weighing about 170g contains about 2g protein, 3g of fiber, 3g of starch, and virtually no fat, while its calorie content is about 100 calories.
