Featured Fruit Product: IQF Banana

Bananas are native to the tropical region of Southeast Asia, and are likely to have been first domesticated in Papua New Guinea. Today, they are cultivated throughout the tropics. Today, bananas are the most well known and most commonly eaten tropical fruit and are a very popular as processed fruit ingredients.

Bananas are known for their potassium content. One large banana, contains about 600 mg of potassium and only carries 140 calories. That same large banana even has 2 grams of protein and 4 grams of fiber. Vitamins and minerals are abundant in this fruit, offering 123 I.U.s of vitamin A. A full range of B vitamins are present with .07 mg of Thiamine, .15 mg of Riboflavin, .82 mg Niacin, .88 mg vitamin B6, and 29 mcg of Folic Acid. There are 13.8 mg of vitamin C. On the mineral scale Calcium counts in at 9.2 mg, Magnesium 44.1 mg, with trace amounts of iron and zinc.

Historically, they were not the sweet yellow banana we know today, but the red and green cooking variety, now usually referred to as plantains to distinguish them from the sweet type. The yellow sweet banana is actually a mutant strain of the green and red cooking bananas, discovered in 1836 by Jamaican Jean Francois Poujot. He found that in his plantations, one plant was bearing yellow fruits rather than red or green. Upon tasting the new discovery, he found it to be sweet in its raw state, without the need for cooking. He quickly began cultivating this sweet variety.

Bananas became widespread in the 19th and 20th centuries due largely to the United Fruit Company. Today, they grow in most tropical and subtropical regions with the main commercial producers including Mexico, Costa Rica, Brazil and Ecuador.

Nutritional Benefits:

• Potassium
• Vitamin A
• Vitamin B
• Vitamin C

Our IQF Banana is produced from the highest quality fruits. IQF Banana is prepared by processing fresh fruit which has been cleaned, washed, properly drained, sorted, and inspected. The bananas are then peeled, processed into slides or diceds and flash frozen to preserve their fresh flavor and color. We are able to offer a wide selection of popular pineapple varieties from around the world.

In addition to IQF banana, we offer a selection of banana juice products, purees, essences and some organic banana ingredients. Banana ingredients are easily incorporated into tropical juice beverages, smoothies, yogurts, and a multitude of food and dairy products

Contact Encore Fruit Marketing today for product samples and information at sales@encorefruit.com