FRUITS AND NUTS 91 



which is often supposed to be developed under those condi- 

 tions. This, however, is entirely a misconception. No one in 

 the Tropics would think of allowing the bananas to ripen on 

 the plant. In the first place they do not ripen uniformly. On 

 this account the few fruits which first turn yellow in different 

 parts of the bunch are quickly attacked by birds and insects 

 and are thus destroyed. In the second place, the flavor and 

 nutritive value are not one whit improved by allowing the 

 fruit to ripen on the plant. Fruit picked two weeks or longer 

 before ripening and hung in a cool place on the bunch will 

 develop their flavor and nutritive value as completely as if 

 allowed to remain on the plant. The inhabitants of the 

 Tropics, therefore, commonly cut off a bunch of bananas from 

 time to time for household use and allow it to hang in some 

 cool part of the house, removing the bananas for use as fast 

 as they ripen. 



Bananas are eaten not only in the raw condition as fresh 

 fruit, but are preserved in the form of banana figs or as banana 

 flour and a great variety of bananas are eaten only after bak- 

 ing or frying. The product known as banana figs is made in 

 Jamaica, Hawaii, and elsewhere. The method of preparation 

 consists in slicing the pulp of the banana in halves and allow- 

 ing the pulp to dry either in the sun or preferably in an artifi- 

 cial drying apparatus. The sugar in the fully ripe banana is 

 sufficient to preserve the fruit in that form and the moisture 

 is not all driven out by the process of drying. The resulting 

 product is a soft, flexible, yellow-colored pulp of rather agree- 

 able flavor. Banana flour is made from fully grown unripe 

 bananas which are pealed, sliced, and dried in the sun or in 

 vacuum driers to a moisture content of about 15 per cent. 

 The amount of desiccation undergone in this process may be 

 understood when it is remembered that fresh bananas contain 

 about 75 per cent, of water. The material is then pulverized 

 and sifted, after which it is used for various culinary purposes. 

 Cooking bananas are baked, fried, or cooked in a stew pan 



