Those annoying tiny threads on bananas—have you ever wondered what they are for? As you remove the banana’s yellow skin, they arise, as if they were sentient and meant to annoy you. Have no fear; I am here to provide the solution. You are looking at phloem bundles, my dear readers.
In a vertical fashion, phloem bundles adhere tenaciously to underripe bananas and droop limply from the flesh of overripe ones. Despite their annoyance, these strings are necessary. Bundles of phloem, also called phloem packets, are essential for the development and health of bananas because they carry nutrients from the leaves to the fruit. You should keep this in mind the next time you’re eating bananas and those pesky white strings appear.
Have no fear; they are quite edible on their own with your banana. Although phloem is not required to make bananas, it is critical to cultivate disease-resistant cultivars so that our beloved fruit may survive diseases that have killed off many others. Let us give thanks to these little strings for the important role they played in our bananas’ development.
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