Gros Michel banana facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Gros Michel
Gros Michel bananas in various stages of ripening
Species	Musa acuminata
Cultivar group	AAA Group
Cultivar	Gros Michel
Origin	Martinique, Jamaica

The Gros Michel banana, often called "Big Mike", was the most popular type of banana grown for export until the 1950s. It was known for its strong features that made it great for shipping. Its thick peel helped protect it from getting bruised during travel. Also, the bananas grew in dense bunches, which made them easy to pack and send around the world.

About the Gros Michel Banana

The Gros Michel is a special type of banana that comes from the wild banana plant called Musa acuminata. It belongs to a group known as the AAA group of bananas.

Its full scientific name is Musa acuminata (AAA Group) 'Gros Michel.

This banana has many names around the world. In Spanish, it is known as Guineo Gigante, Banano, and Plátano Roatán. In Malaysia and Indonesia, people call it Pisang Ambon. It's called Thihmwe in Burma, Chek Ambuong in Cambodia, and Kluai hom thong in Thailand.

History of Growing Gros Michel

How Gros Michel Became Popular

This picture from 1919 shows a Gros Michel banana plant in Costa Rica that was attacked by a disease called banana wilt.

A French explorer named Nicolas Baudin brought some of these banana plants from Southeast Asia to a garden on the island of Martinique. Later, in 1835, another French botanist, Jean François Pouyat, took these bananas from Martinique to Jamaica. Soon, Gros Michel bananas were grown on huge farms in places like Honduras, Costa Rica, and other parts of Central America.

For many years, the Gros Michel was the main banana sent to Europe and North America.

Why Gros Michel Declined

In the 1950s, a serious plant disease called Panama disease started to spread. This disease is caused by a fungus named Fusarium oxysporum f.sp. cubense. It wiped out huge areas of Gros Michel banana farms in Central America.

Because the Gros Michel banana was so easily affected by this disease, companies stopped growing it for export by the 1960s. Instead, they started growing other types of bananas that could resist Panama disease, such as the Cavendish banana.

Improving Gros Michel Bananas

Scientists are working to make the Gros Michel banana strong again. They are using genetic modification to create new versions of the Gros Michel that can resist Panama disease. This means they are changing the banana's genes to make it stronger against the fungus.

There have also been successful experiments to mix Cavendish and Gros Michel bananas. These new mixed bananas also show resistance to Panama disease. In 2013, a study showed progress in making Gros Michel bananas resistant to another disease called black sigatoka.

See also

In Spanish: Plátano Gros Michel para niños