Bananas should be firm, but not too hard, bright in appearance, and free from bruises or other injuries. Their stems and tips should be intact. The size of the banana does not affect its quality, so simply choose the size that best meets your needs

Choose banana fruits based on when you want to use them; greener ones should last for more days, while yellow and brown-spotted bananas should be eaten in a few days.

Ready to eat bananas should be bright yellow, and emanate rich fruity fragrance. Ripe fruit peels off easily. Ripened, fresh bananas are nutritionally enriched and sweeter in taste than the raw green ones.

Avoid mushy or damaged bananas, as they are un-appealing.

Banana is a naturally  fat, cholesterol and sodium free food and a good soure of potassium, dietary fiber, managanese and vitamins B6 & C.

·         Safe and pure enough for Baby’s first solid food.

·         Banana is a naturally free of  fat, cholesterol and sodium.

·         A good soure of potassium, dietary fiber, managanese and vitamins B6 & C.

·         Banana fruit is one of the high calorie tropical fruits. 100 g of fruit provides 90 calories. Besides, it contains good amounts of health benefiting anti-oxidants, minerals, and vitamins.Banana is easily digestible with simple sugars like fructose and sucrose that when eaten replenishes energy and revitalizes the body instantly; thus, for these qualities, bananas are being used by athletes to get instant energy and as supplement food in the treatment plan for underweight children.

·         The fruit holds a good amount of soluble dietary fiber (7% of DRA per 100 g) that helps normal bowel movements; thereby reducing constipation problems.

·         It is also a very good source of vitamin-B6 (pyridoxine), provides about 28% of daily-recommended allowance. Pyridoxine is an important B-complex vitamin that has a beneficial role for the treatment of neuritis, and anemia. Further, it helps decrease homocystine (one of the causative factors in coronary artery disease (CHD) and stroke episodes) levels within the body.

·         Bananas also contain tryptophan, an amino acid that studies suggest plays a role in preserving memory and boosting your mood. Bananas can be helpful in overcoming depression "due to high levels of tryptophan, which the body converts to serotonin, the mood-elevating brain neurotransmitter.

·         The fruit is an also a moderate source of vitamin-C (about 8.7 mg per 100g). Consumption of foods rich in vitamin-C helps the body develop resistance against infectious agents and scavenge harmful oxygen-free radicals.

·         Fresh bananas provide adequate levels of minerals like copper, magnesium, and manganese. Magnesium is essential for bone strengthening and has a cardiac-protective role as well.  Manganese is used by the body as a co-factor for the antioxidant enzyme, superoxide dismutase. Copper is required in the production of red blood cells.

·         Fresh banana is a very rich source of potassium. 100 g fruit provides 358 mg potassium. Potassium is an important component of cell and body fluids that helps control heart rate and blood pressure, countering bad effects of sodium

 1.Pull the bananas apart from the bunch-If your bananas are already pretty ripe, then you can keep them fresh and yellow for longer by pulling each banana away from the bunch. This will keep each banana fresher for longer.

2. Wrap the stems of the bananas in plastic wrap. This will prevent ethylene gas, which is produced naturally during the ripening process, from reaching other parts of the fruit and making it ripen too fast. You can even place some tape over the plastic wrap for some extra security

3. Store the ripe bananas with unripe fruit-Take an unripe pear or avocado and place it near the bananas, and it will slow down the ripening process of the bananas, while ripening faster itself. It's a win-win situation!

4. Storing ripe bananas in the refrigerator will preserve their delicious taste for longer, even though their peels may turn black, fruit will stay fresh and firm for 1 to 2 weeks. 

                                 If you need to hasten the ripening process, you can place bananas in a paper bag or wrap them in newspaper, adding an apple to accelerate the process.

For maximum flavor when consuming refrigerated bananas, remove them from the refrigerator and allow them to come back to room temperature. For the most antioxidants, eat fully ripened fruit.

Bananas come with nature gifted protective outer layer of skin, therefore, are less likely to be contaminated by germs and dust.

§   Eat banana as it is without any additions. Just discard the peel and enjoy!

§   Banana fruit sections are a great addition to the fruit salads.

§   Fresh "banana-milkshake" with sugar syrup is a refreshing drink.

§   Bananas have also been used in the making of fruit jams.

§   Grilled banana fruit can be served on cake/ ice cream in the Caribbean style dessert.

§   Banana chips (plantain) are a snack produced from dehydrated or fried banana or plantain slices.

§   Mash ripe banana fruits and add to cakes, casseroles, muffins, bread pudding, etc.