Fruit distributor Chiquita has said bananas are "quite possibly the world's perfect fruit" since 1989.
But the safety of the banana crop is being jeopardized by a fungal disease with no way to stop the spreading of the disease.
Randy Ploetz, professor of plant pathology at the University of Florida, said the banana is being threatened by Panama disease.
The $12 billion industry is being threatened by a fungus that cannot be combatted by any fungicides.
"Once you've got it, it's an insolvable problem," Ploetz said. "You want to keep that pathogen far away."
There is more to the fruit than just Bananas Foster and banana splits. Bananas are a staple food for over a half a billion people in Africa and Asia, according to the botanic gardens conservation international Web site.
Panama disease threatens the cavendish, the type of banana most commonly eaten in the United States and Europe.
"It's a lethal disease," Ploetz said. "It gets in the plants vascular system, plugs up the plumbing and kills."
Ploetz said it is difficult to tell if and when the disease would move to the Americas.
"Its not an airborne pathogen," Ploetz said. "Its caused by a fungus and has a really broad host range. The cavendish banana is one of many types grown around the world."
Ploetz said the disease is currently in southeast Asia, but it is traveling.
"It's found mainly in southeast Asia, but it just jumped to the Philippines," Ploetz said.
Ploetz said it is difficult to see exactly how the disease moved from the Indonesian islands to the Philippines, but it happened in the last five years.
"There's a lot of people from islands in the Indonesian chain who have island hopped and brought it from Indonesia," Ploetz said.
But Ploetz has concerns of how easy the disease to travels.
And experts are worried the disease could cross the ocean and affect the crops grown in Latin America.
Ploetz said the fungus can be spread by one person bringing a banana in a suitcase from one country to another.
Chelsea Sullivan, kinesiology freshman, said life would be weird without bananas.
"I eat bananas occasionally, but I do think it would be weird to not have them," Sullivan said. "They are doing so much with genetic engineering now. Can't they come up with another variety?"
The cavendish replaced the Gros Michel banana as the popular food choice in the 1950s after it was killed off by Panama disease.
Chris Faulk, biology graduate assistant, said the cavendish bananas are all genetically identical, making the crop extremely susceptible to disease.
"In any population you need variety. You can't have a population of all clones. That's bad because your susceptible to disease," Faulk said. "If you have a room full of identical people who are all susceptible to the flu, if the flu came along it would kill all those people."
Ploetz, who has worked at the University of Florida since 1986, said bananas are difficult to breed.
"Banana breeding is a very massive problem; it's very difficult to breed bananas," Ploetz said. "It's a different crop for wheat or corn where its easy to breed them."
Ploetz said he has been studying the disease since the early 1990s.
"We've been aware of this specific problem since 1993," Ploetz said. "It first came to our attention in Sumatra, and we've been watching it spread through Indonesia and Malaysia. But it continues to move."
Few bananas are grown in North America because of the climate because bananas need tropical weather to grow, but they are an important export commodity, Ploetz said.
Ploetz said some minor production takes place in Hawaii and south Florida, but the majority takes place in Latin America.
While bananas are not grown as a cash crop in Louisiana, some Louisiana residents grow them recreationally.
"Some people grow it in their own backyard with maybe one or two shoots producing," said Terry Matthews, statistician for the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Andy Pizzolato, owner of Southside Produce, said bananas are the most popular fruit they sell.
"It would be a loss because bananas are a favorite," Pizzolato said. "As far as speculating on if and when that would happen, I can't, but due to sound agricultural practices, I don't see it happening again."
Ploetz said there are many different types of bananas.
"Of all the bananas grown worldwide, only about 17 percent of 100 million metric tons produced per year are produced for export," Ploetz said.
Dole Fresh Fruit Co. and Chiquita Brands International imports 2.6 million pounds of bananas annually through Gulfport, Miss., according to David McNeel, deputy director of operations for the Mississippi state port authority at Gulfport.
Ploetz said the Chiquita and Doll companies do not breed bananas.
A spokesperson for Dole, the world's largest producer and marketer of fresh fruit and vegetables, said the company has no plans to replace the cavendish.
"At this time we continue to offer cavendish, and we have no plans at looking for a replacement for the cavendish," said Marianne Duong, communications manager for Dole.
Ploetz said it is hard for planters to identify the disease.
"People wouldn't recognize it, and you can't tell just by looking at the plant which race it is. You'd have to do severe test," Ploetz said. "It could be in the Americas for a while before we know it."
Moe Myers, kinesiology freshman, said he does not know what he would do without bananas.
"Bananas are good," Myers said. "I don't know what I'd do without them. What are the monkeys going to eat?"
----- Contact Elizabeth Miller at emiller@lsureveille.com
Be the first to comment on this article!