Banana taxonomy

Posted by R. Berg on August 18, 2001

In Reply to: Forbidden fruit posted by ESC on August 18, 2001

: : I heard an interesting fact the other day. It is not mentioned in the bible as to which fruit was actually eaten by Adam and Eve. Therefore, why is the general perception that of the apple? Any origin behind this?

: "Sacred Origins of Profound Things: the Stories Behind the Rites and Rituals of the World's Religions" by Charles Panati (Penguin Books, New York, 1996) has a chapter on "Forbidden Foods."

: Mr. Panati says, "The first forbidden food - the first forbidden anything on earth - was an apple. Or was it?.The species of tree is never identified. What might humankind's first forbidden morsel have been?"

: He says the pomegranate is "the preference of Hebrew scholars. They point to the song Solomon sang: 'You are fair, my love. Your cheeks are (red) like the halves of pomegranate.'." The banana is favored by the Koran. "The Islamic Koran claims that the forbidden fruit was a banana - which botanically isn't a fruit, but an herb. Bananas were prized in the Indus Valley at least four thousand years ago."

: But the apple is "the preference of Christian scholars. The apple was one of the early fruits cultivated in Asia Minor, as early as 12