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Rachael is a writer and digital content producer at IFLScience with a Zoology degree from the University of Southampton, UK, and a nose for novelty animal stories.
Bananas aren’t actually a natural part of wild monkeys’ diets who, while fond of fruits in their natural environments, only come across the sugary berry (botanically speaking) in human settings, but it seems some of our closest relatives may have a better grip of these fruits than we do.Advertisement
“The entire wild monkey-banana connection in fact is total fabrication,” said Professor Katharine Milton of University of California, Berkeley, who specializes in the dietary ecology of Primates, to Business Insider.
“The edible banana is a cultivated domesticated plant and fruit. Wild monkeys never encounter bananas at all ever unless they are around human habitation where bananas are or have been planted.”
They might not be the original banana eaters, but theyve been honored in a technique some call the “monkey method” owing to the way some animals get their feet involved when peeling a banana.
The pivotal consideration when working out how to peel a banana is the stalk (that hard pointy bit sticking out of one end). Do you think the stalk is a zip to be snapped and peeled from the banana? Or do you use it like a handle while getting to work on the stubby end?
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How to peel a banana: Stalk is a zip
If you answered yes to the former, we regret to inform you that this is argued to be the wrong way to peel a banana. The technique is critiqued for the difficulty in getting the stalk to snap, and the fact that it’s a recipe for ending up with a sad, squishy banana.
If you want a premium banana eating experience, many argue that the so-called “monkey method” is the way to go.
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If you use “the monkey method” to eat a banana, you can toss the floral remains away first. Bananas might not be a natural part of many primates’ diets, but videos have demonstrated how these animals sometimes seem to intuitively adopt the reverse approach to humans, using their feet to hold the stalk while their hands pry open the top.
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For such a tiny, insignificant nub, the remains of the banana flower seem to have stirred up some real hatred among modern humans. Sometimes called the “fingertip”, it’s entirely edible but often discarded because of its tough texture and bitter taste. You might despise it, but it was once a great beauty.
Bananas are berries, botanically speaking, which is especially confusing in the context that strawberries aren’t. There’s a lot to these fruits – which they are classed as, too – that people don’t appreciate, but perhaps one of its most misunderstood and wrongfully maligned features is that little black nub you find at the end.
Top Banana
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