More Banana: Inside Banana

The next length scale that seems to make sense is on the inch-level, inside the banana. Coincidentally, the diameter of the cross-section of the middle of it is about an inch wide (picture below). Looking at the cross-section dead-on, the peel is about half a centimeter thick. Farther inside, there is about a centimeter to a centimeter and a half of pulpy fruit flesh. In the very center, there are a few black seeds, which are apparently the “vestigial remnant” of seeds (Kruszelnicki, 2005). New bananas are made by grafting cuttings from other banana trees (Kruszelnicki, 2005). The tiny, black, and infertile seeds are a few millimeters thick. There are tiny circles (about a millimeter thick) starting with the outside of the peel and moving towards the softer flesh inside which get progressively larger and more dispersive before melding with the flesh itself. They seem to be long, relatively thin tubes that perhaps are tubes used to transport nutrition. They also could be used to for protection from impact if the tubes are filled with air. However, it is difficult to tell what is inside these tubes because they are so small and the flesh inside is the same color as the rest of the banana. Using hollow structures filled with a soft medium for protection is a mechanism that is frequently seen in nature. Examples include eggs that are laid many at a time and clustered together, such as frog or fish eggs, which contain soft sacs and material around them in order to protect them from impact or predators by adhering them to small places. On an even more basic level, the mechanism of putting the most vital information (seeds) in the center of as many layers of protection as possible is even more common. In fact, one could argue that it is impossible to find evidence of organisms that do not do that. From the vital nuclei of cells to the heart and brain of animals, it only makes sense that natural selection favors organisms that cushions the most important structures beneath less important structures. Tomorrow, I’ll zoom in even further to the millimeter level and describe the “seeds” even more in depth.

Kruszelnicki, K.S. (2005, September 05). Banana fruit and tree. Retrieved from http://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2005/09/08/1453046.htm