why is a banana fruit yellow when the mother plant is green?

Answer 1

The banana fruit starts off green. As it ripens the enzyme catechol oxidase (produced by ripening) converts catechol in the banana to a yellow pigment. Oxygen in the air then converts the yellow pigment to the brown compound melanin when it over-ripens.
Bananas do not turn yellow only when they are cut. My bananas have turned yellow when I have forgotten to cut them. Also, they don't propagate by seeds but by suckers growing from underground.
Ethylene initiates the ripening process but it does not change its colour to yellow. The above and the destruction of the green chloroblasts do.

Answer 2

Bananas don't have to be yellow, they can be other colours.

Many fruits differ in colour from their leaf colour, eg. strawberries, peaches, oranges etc. (These typically have green leaves).

Fruit plants need to reproduce and disperse their offspring. They often do this by attracting animals to eat the fruit, including their seeds. When the animal gets rid of solid waste, after digestion, the seeds are deposited at a different place. In fact, many seeds won't grow until the fruit has disappeared from around it, mother nature's clever way of waiting for the right time.

Answer 3

Bananas are green when they grow on the mother plant. Most fruits contain enzymes that cause them to ripen and some change colour as they ripen. Bananas turn yellow, tomatos turn red, bell peppers turn red (going through yellow & orange on the way.)

Answer 4

Green bananas contain indigestible short chain fatty acids , They are a favorite food of the cells that make up the lining of the intestines.
When these cells are well-nourished and healthy, the body's ability to absorb nutrients such as calcium can increase dramatically.

Bananas and many root vegetables contain especially high amounts of antioxidant phenolic compounds.

The produce will either be “climacteric products ,mainly fruit that produce a burst of ethylene as they ripen, as well as an increase in respiration, or non-climacteric products that do not increase ethylene production when they ripen” .

Climacteric products such as bananas and nectarines ripen after harvest becoming softer, changing color and becoming sweeter.

Ethylene gas is used as a ripening agent in bananas, avocados and many other climacteric fruits.


“Ethylene is produced in all higher plants and is produced from methionine in essentially all tissues” , H2C=CH2 Mendipweb.

It is also released by all flowers, although ripening fruit and damaged flowers result in greater concentrations of the gas.

Ethylene is important in the horticulture industry, because it “is estimated that 30-40 percent of cut flower and plant inventory die prematurely directly due to ethylene-induced disorders” .

It is also important in the industry because it is used for ripening of fruit & timing the blooming period .


“In green tissue such leafy vegetables and cucumbers ethylene stimulates the loss of chlorophyll or green color &increases the susceptibility of the product to rots”



Bananas come in a variety of sizes and colours; most cultivars are yellow when ripe but some are red or purple-ish& ripe fruit is easily peeled and eaten raw or cooked.
Depending upon cultivar and ripeness, the flesh can be starchy to sweet, and firm to mushy. Unripe or "green" bananas and plantains are used in cooking & staple starch of many tropical populations.

green cooking bananas and plantains,ripe dessert bananas are easily damaged while being transported to market.
Even when only transported within their country of origin, ripe bananas suffer a high rate of damage and loss.

Answer 5

yes banana plant is green because it is live. But when the fruit is ripe it turn to yellow

Answer 6

The banana fruit is green ,are they sprayed to ripen so that they will look better for the customer , they would ripen themselves eventually ,but is it not nicer to pick up a bunch of nice yellow one's ,than a bunch of unripen one's . And the shops would sell more when they are ripe.

Answer 7

It's only yellow when it's ripe. When they are on the plant, they are green. If you followed your logic, all fruit and vegetables would be green.

Answer 8

Not all bananas are yellow. There is a RED variety in India. They also have elachi bananas that are very very small and have a better taste than the bigger bananas we get here in England.

Answer 9

I give up............Why is the banana fruit yellow when the mother plant is green?

Answer 10

I really like both fruits and fruit and vegetables better, regardless how they look and taste. You desire a little of both.