Given that each banana variety is propagated clonally, there is very little genetic diversity in the domesticated plants. This makes bananas especially vulnerable to pests and diseases, as a novel pathogen or pest could quickly decimate a variety if it were to exploit a genetic weakness among the clones. Indeed, this very phenomenon occurred in the late 1950s with the Gros Michel dessert variety, which had dominated the world’s commercial banana business. Richer and sweeter than the modern Cavendish, the Gros Michel fell victim to an invading soil fungus that causes Panama disease, a form of Fusarium wilt. Powerless to breed resistance into the sterile clones and unable to rid the soil of the fungus, farmers were soon forced to abandon the Gros Michel in favour of the hardier Cavendish. Although the Cavendish has thus far been resistant to such a pestilent invasion, its lack of genetic diversity leaves it equally vulnerable to evolving pathogens and pests. Indeed, a strain of Panama disease known as Tropical Race (TR) 4 has been a threat to the Cavendish since the 1990s, and many scientists worry that the Cavendish too will eventually go extinct.
Banana plants thrive naturally on deep, loose, well-drained soils in humid tropical climates, and they are grown successfully under irrigation in such semiarid regions as southern Jamaica. Suckers and divisions of the rhizome are used as planting material; the first crop ripens within 10 to 15 months, and thereafter fruit production is more or less continuous. Frequent pruning is required to remove surplus growth and prevent crowding in a banana plantation. Desirable commercial bunches of bananas consist of nine hands or more and weigh 22–65 kg (49–143 pounds). Three hundred or more such bunches may be produced annually on one acre of land and are harvested before they fully ripen on the plant. For export, the desired degree of maturity attained before harvest depends upon distance from market and type of transportation, and ripening is frequently induced artificially after shipment by exposure to ethylene gas.
The banana plant is a gigantic herb that springs from an underground stem, or rhizome, to form a false trunk 3–6 metres (10–20 feet) high. This trunk is composed of the basal portions of leaf sheaths and is crowned with a rosette of 10 to 20 oblong to elliptic leaves that sometimes attain a length of 3–3.5 metres (10–11.5 feet) and a breadth of 65 cm (26 inches). A large flower spike, carrying numerous yellowish flowers protected by large purple-red bracts, emerges at the top of the false trunk and bends downward to become bunches of 50 to 150 individual fruits, or fingers. The individual fruits, or bananas, are grouped in clusters, or hands, of 10 to 20. After a plant has fruited, it is cut down to the ground, because each trunk produces only one bunch of fruit. The dead trunk is replaced by others in the form of suckers, or shoots, which arise from the rhizome at roughly six-month intervals. The life of a single rhizome thus continues for many years, and the weaker suckers that it sends up through the soil are periodically pruned, while the stronger ones are allowed to grow into fruit-producing plants.
banana, fruit of the genus Musa, of the family Musaceae, one of the most important fruit crops of the world. The banana is grown in the tropics, and, though it is most widely consumed in those regions, it is valued worldwide for its flavour, nutritional value, and availability throughout the year. Cavendish, or dessert, bananas are most commonly eaten fresh, though they may be fried or mashed and chilled in pies or puddings. They may also be used to flavour muffins, cakes, or breads. Cooking varieties, or plantains, are starchy rather than sweet and are grown extensively as a staple food source in tropical regions; they are cooked when ripe or immature. A ripe fruit contains as much as 22 percent of carbohydrate and is high in dietary fibre, potassium, manganese, and vitamins B6 and C.
The jackfruit (Artocarpus heterophyllus)[6] is a species of tree in the fig, mulberry, and breadfruit family (Moraceae).[7] The jackfruit is the largest tree fruit, reaching as much as 55 kg (120 pounds) in weight, 90 cm (35 inches) in length, and 50 cm (20 in) in diameter.[7][8] A mature jackfruit tree produces some 200 fruits per year, with older trees bearing up to 500 fruits in a year.[7][9] The jackfruit is a multiple fruit composed of hundreds to thousands of individual flowers, and the fleshy petals of the unripe fruit are eaten.
Custard apple, (genus Annona), genus of about 160 species of small trees or shrubs of the family Annonaceae, native to the New World tropics. Custard apples are of local importance as traditional medicines, and several species are commercially grown for their edible fruits. The fruit of the common custard apple (Annona reticulata), also called sugar apple or bullock’s-heart in the West Indies, is dark brown in colour and marked with depressions giving it a quilted appearance; its pulp is reddish yellow, sweetish, and very soft (hence the common name). Soursop, or guanabana (A. muricata), sweetsop (A. squamosa), and cherimoya (A. cherimola) are widely cultivated worldwide. Alligator apple, or corkwood (A. glabra), a native of South America and West Africa, is valued for its roots, which serve the same purposes as cork; the fruit is not usually eaten fresh but is sometimes used for making jellies.
Custard Apple is a sweet, creamy fruit enjoyed by many. In the Middle East, it’s known as “Shareefa.” This unique fruit has a rich history and is popular for its delightful taste and texture. Fresh Leaf UAE brings this exotic fruit straight to your doorstep, ensuring quality and freshness right here in the UAE.
Custard apple, also known as "sitaphal" or "sugar apple," is a tropical fruit with a unique taste and appearance. It has a knobby green skin that hides sweet, creamy, and fragrant flesh inside. The flesh is divided into segments, each containing a shiny black seed.
Custard Apple Botanically known as Annona squamosa from Annonaceae family. Common name are Sitaphal, Sugar apple red, Sweetsop. It is a small many branched semi-evergreen tree.
This Balanagar variety of custard apple is most adaptable variety and yielding of this variety is too high when compared to other custard apple. The fruit is medium size and green in color with sweet in taste. It can be planted in any corner of the garden and requires less water and does best in dry climates.
This tree should only be planted outdoors in frost-free areas protected from cold winds. It is best grown in rich, evenly moist but well-drained soils in full sun to semi-shade.
Algumas pesquisas indicaram o crescente número de consumidores adeptos da graviola, que a consomem deliberadamente acreditando em um "poder curativo" de algumas doenças como o câncer e o Mal de Parkinson. Esse frisson deve-se ao fato de muitos experimentos terem sido realizados in vitro e in vivo em animais cobaias, sem a total comprovação dos efeitos da substância anonacina neles. Em humanos esses experimentos nunca foram realizados, ao menos não oficialmente. Outro uso que alimenta a economia e o comércio é a elaboração de medicamentos utilizados na medicina popular, com ação antifúngica, antimalárica e citostática.
Annonaceae is the Custard Apple family.
It has over 100 genera with over 2,000 species.
Most are evergreen or deciduous trees with some shrubs. Young shoots are often zigzag.
Leaves, on short stalks, are in 2 ranks, with a simple blade that is pinnately veined.
The usually solitary flowers appear to be axillary or leaf opposed but, due to the way the
shoots grow are probably terminal.
Flowers can also arise from the trunk which is known as cauliflory.
Some species have bracts at the base of the stalk.
The receptacle (the top of the stalk holding the flower parts) may be enlarged, elevated or flat and there is a
disk (a disc-like structure at the base of the ovary formed from the receptacle or stamens).
The usually pendulous flowers have a thick, fleshy perianth composed of tepals
(undifferentiated sepals and petals) or with distinct sepals and petals.
The perianth is usually in 3 whorls of 3 but can be 1 or 2 whorls.
There are up to 100 or more short stamens with the outer ones maturing first.
They are typically spirally arranged.
The anthers open via a longitudinal slit or valve that is directed outwards.
There is an anther appendage and sometimes staminodes (infertile stamens).
The superior ovary can have 10 to 100 or more carpels each with 1-10 ovules.
The carpels are usually separate and spirally arranged.
Each has a short, thick style and a papillate stigma.
To prevent self pollination all (or most of) the flowers are in the staminate phase in the morning and
the pistillate stage later in the day or the next morning.
The fruit is fleshy with quite large seeds.
Several genera produce edible fruit such as Annona and Uvaria.
Members of the family Annonaceae have simple leaves with smooth margins that are alternately arranged in two rows along the stems. The radially symmetrical flowers are usually bisexual. In most species the three sepals are united at the base. There are six brown, yellow, or greenish petals, many stamens in a spiral, and many pistils, each with a one-chambered ovary containing many ovules. The fruit is a berry. Flowers in some species are borne directly on large branches or on the trunk (cauliflorous). The leaves and wood are often fragrant.
The Annonaceae are a family of flowering plants consisting of trees, shrubs, or rarely lianas[3] commonly known as the custard apple family[4][3] or soursop family. With 108 accepted genera and about 2400 known species,[5] it is the largest family in the Magnoliales. Several genera produce edible fruit, most notably Annona, Anonidium, Asimina, Rollinia, and Uvaria. Its type genus is Annona. The family is concentrated in the tropics, with few species found in temperate regions. About 900 species are Neotropical, 450 are Afrotropical, and the remaining are Indomalayan.
The Everglades National Park comprises several significant habitats such as extensive mangrove forests, freshwater sloughs, saltwater marshes, tropical hardwood hammocks, cypress, and pine woodlands, open sawgrass prairies, marl prairies, wet prairies, islands of Florida Bay, and seagrass ecosystems. This vast network of wetlands and forests that make up the fragile ecosystem of the National park is fed by a very shallow, slow-moving river water from Lake Okeechobee. The Park also features the largest contiguous stand of protected mangrove ecosystem in the entire Western Hemisphere.
The mosaic of important habitats that are found within the Everglades National Park supports a rich assemblage of flora and fauna that are unique to the region and are found nowhere else on Earth. Due to its location at the interface of the temperate region of North America and the tropical region of the Caribbean, the Everglades National Park hosts floral species from both the biomes. The park serves as an important habitat for a wide variety of floral species like wildflowers, broad-leafed aquatic plants, muhly grass, succulents, various scrub bushes like saw palmetto, poisonwood, wild coffee, and white indigo berry; trees such as southern live oaks, gumbo-limbo, wild tamarind, slash pines, and conifers; and epiphytes like bromeliads, orchids, ferns, and Spanish moss. Mangroves like red mangroves, black mangroves, and white mangroves are found in the Everglades National Park.
The Everglades National Park is home to a large number of faunal species. Various insects and other invertebrate animals like crustaceans, mollusks (little tree snail), spiders, centipedes, and millipedes are found here. The park provides an ideal habitat for several amphibian species like the American green tree frog and southern leopard frog. Several reptilian species like the eastern diamondback rattlesnake, eastern indigo snake, green anole, water moccasin, American alligator, American crocodile, and the endangered Atlantic green sea turtle, hawksbill turtle, Atlantic ridley turtle, Atlantic loggerhead turtle, and leatherback sea turtle are found here.
Over 300 species of fish are found in the freshwater marshes and the marine coastline of the Everglades National Park. Some of the important fish include redfish, bonefish, spotted seatrout, blue tilapia, snook, tarpon, northern red snapper, and bass.
