It is very likely that you have encountered a banana at some point in your life and are familiar with its taste. If you have ever eaten or drank banana-flavoured foods or drinks, you may be aware of how it tastes. Many find artificial banana flavouring (while we still call it that) “fake”. Compared to most other artificial fruit flavours, banana flavouring sticks out as the most unlike its real counterpart.
A bit of banana history
The widespread explanation involves past bananas, so let’s take a look at how we got to our current bananas…
During the early 20th century, a reigning banana of the time was a subspecies of banana called Gros Michel or “Big Mike”. See, while we often think of bananas as one sort of fruit, it has different types just like apples. Hawaii is home to the Blue Java bananas which are blue in colour and it is said to taste almost like ice cream. Much of Oceania grows wild bananas that are red in colour. However, what most banana varieties have in common are seeds.
Gros Michel was a yellow banana – much like what we know them as now – and was cultivated to be seedless. They also had thicker skins, meaning that they could be transported with less risk of bruising. The problem with seedless fruits in general is that the plants are generally clones of each other which makes them susceptible to be wiped out by the same problem. And that is what happened.
A fungal outbreak, dubbed the Panama disease, started causing Gros Michel to wilt. Without any genetic variation, if one plant was susceptible to infection, they all were. Banana export was seeing a decline and that might have been the last time the wider commercial world would have seen bananas had it not been for the Cavendish banana, a privately cultivated banana that was resistant to the disease and also seedless.
The bananas we know today are not the ones that were grown when the artificial banana flavour was invented. So, is artificial banana flavours based off of a now extinct type of banana? Firstly, Gros Michel is still grown in certain parts of South America. Secondly, let’s look at what artificial banana flavouring is in the first place.
The chemical behind it all
Found in all varieties of banana is a compound called isoamyl acetate. Alone, the smell is enough to invoke memories of a banana. This is what artificial banana flavouring is. While bananas have a distinct profile of various different substances that give it its flavour, isoamyl acetate is considered the main ingredient and has been dubbed the “banana ester”.
Isoamyl acetate fails to perfectly imitate Cavendish bananas, because that variety has a much more complex chemical makeup that causes the flavour to be more “refined”. It does not help that Cavendish is known to lose some isoamyl acetate during transport.
Gros Michel bananas, on the other hand, are known to have high amounts of isoamyl acetate. Due to this, the taste of artificial banana flavouring is more akin to these bananas of old leading to headlines saying that our current banana flavours are based off of an “extinct” variety of bananas. It is an interesting narrative to tell people, but is this really the truth?
Fact or coincidence?
When diluted, isoamyl acetate smells similar to pears. It is reported that when it was first produced in Britain it was marketed as an artificial pear flavour (different from ethyl acetate or “pear flavour”). It was only once the compound made its way to America where bananas were more prevalent were they associated with the fruit.
See, back then, when artificial flavours were being developed, it was less about finding out what was in the banana and more about finding something that resembled the taste or smell of bananas. Isoamyl acetate just so happened to be distinctly banana in a higher concentration and Gros Michel just so happened to have a lot of isoamyl acetate. Gros Michel also has less combinations of chemicals than Cavendish does so just isoamyl acetate is usually sufficient to taste like it.
But, the idea that artificial banana flavour was “based” off of the Gros Michel isn’t completely wrong, but there is not much evidence to support this. Rather, what may have happened is that the discovery of isoamyl acetate was separate from Gros Michel. In years, the discrepancy between artificial banana flavours and real bananas were retroactively explained by the flavour being based on a past subspecies of banana. Realistically though, the flavour similarity is just a coincidence based on Gros Michel’s simple chemical makeup and isoamyl acetate’s distinct banana smell.
The main reason is that bananas have many more smelly compounds than just isoamyl acetate, but there is one banana variety called the Gros Michel that some people seem to think tastes and smells a lot like a banana Laffy Taffy
Taffy
Taffy is a type of candy invented in the United States, made by stretching and/or pulling a sticky mass of a soft candy base, made of boiled sugar, butter, vegetable oil, flavorings, and colorings, until it becomes aerated (tiny air bubbles produced), resulting in a light, fluffy and chewy candy.
. Today, at least in the United States, the standard grocery store banana is the cavendish
cavendish
Cavendish bananas are the fruits of one of a number of banana cultivars belonging to the Cavendish subgroup of the AAA banana cultivar group (triploid cultivars of Musa acuminata). The same term is also used to describe the plants on which the bananas grow. Cavendish. A bunch of Cavendish bananas.
https://en.wikipedia.org › wiki › Cavendish_banana
The alleged reason why artificial banana flavor doesn't taste like the Cavendish bananas we typically buy in the grocery store is because artificial banana flavor wasn't developed based on that variety of banana. It was developed based on a variety called the Gros Michel, or the Big Mike.
Isoamyl acetate is used to confer banana or pear flavor in foods such as circus peanuts, Juicy Fruit and pear drops. Banana oil and pear oil commonly refer to a solution of isoamyl acetate in ethanol that is used as an artificial flavor.
When you break down the artificial banana flavor, it comes down to one compound: isoamyl acetate. According to a BBC story on this topic, if you were to sniff isoamyl acetate (like the cool kids did behind the bleachers) you would say "that's bananas!" But, you know, in the literal sense.
Producing great tasting superior quality bananas is at the heart of everything we do. We have the highest standards possible: we take amazing care over everything from the way our banana plants are grown (and the people who grow them) to the way they are presented in store.
The main reason is that bananas have many more smelly compounds than just isoamyl acetate, but there is one banana variety called the Gros Michel that some people seem to think tastes and smells a lot like a banana Laffy Taffy. Today, at least in the United States, the standard grocery store banana is the cavendish.
But in the case of banana bread, adding extra butter weighs down the loaf and takes away from the banana flavor. The end result? A heavier banana bread with a more muted banana flavor.
This high strength natural banana flavouring offers a strong ripe banana flavour, great for baking, confectionery, ice creams and more. Foodie Flavours offer a huge range of flavours, which are suitable for a huge range of dietary needs.
Chiquita, one of the world's largest banana producers, has been ordered to pay a total of $38.3 million to the families of eight victims of the AUC, which was a far-right paramilitary group that was designated a terrorist organization by the US.
The pesticide was banned in the USA in 1977 for causing male sterility but Standard Fruit - now Dole - continued to use the pesticide in its plantations outside the USA up until 1982. Workers reported being unable to father any children and women reported losing children.
One of the reasons why Chiquita is known as the world's best banana brand is because of our laser-like focus on providing the highest quality products for our consumers.
The taste of the powder or flour is a key distinction as to the ripeness of the fruit. Unripe banana powders or flours either lack any flavor or taste extremely bitter. Since these powders are made from starchy, green bananas, they leave behind an unpleasant taste.
Because of this confusing discrepancy, rumors and assumptions continue to circulate that artificial banana flavoring must actually be based on the flavor of the Gros Michel. In truth, it's not a matter of banana varieties at all. The answer to the artificial banana flavor mystery comes down to simple chemistry.
It is mainly used as a food additive specifically for the production of the organic compound Isoamyl Acetate, which is also known as Banana Essence or banana flavor concentrate.
When it comes to bananas (which are actually berries), acids and alcohol are naturally present in the fruit. As the banana ripens, enzymes break these molecules down and form esters like isoamyl acetate. This process continues with ripening, which forms more esters and intensifies the flavor and aroma.
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Introduction: My name is Madonna Wisozk, I am a attractive, healthy, thoughtful, faithful, open, vivacious, zany person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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