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Food

04th Feb 2018

Not that we needed it, but banana peels are now edible

And they are SO expensive

Olivia Hayes

We didn’t need this.

Even though it’s amazing what the world of science can do… we really didn’t need our banana peels to be edible.

While the only explanation we can think of for these edible peels is less waste… it just seems like we’re not bothered to pull the skin off our bananas… but anyway, I’ll stop moaning.

The new fruit recently launched in Japan, and a lot goes into the planting process for the fruit skin to turn edible like “lettuce.”

Farmers first plant and grow banana trees in an environment that has a temperature of -60 degrees Celsius. Yep, that cold.

Then the bananas are, at just the right moment, thawed and replanted, according to D&T Farm’s spokesman Tetsuya Tanaka.

Japan’s Mongee Banana (pronounced “mon-gay” and “mongee” is Okayama slang for “incredible”) is a very special banana. Why? It’s only grown and produced at D&T Farm in Okayama Prefecture, and they only sell 10 bananas per week. One banana costs 648 yen (about US$5.75), but the most interesting thing about this banana is that you can eat the skin! How? They use a method called “Freeze Thaw Awakening”, which extracts and implements the DNA of fruits in order to produce specimen similar to ancient times, which then allows them to be grown in a cooler climate. Bananas produced in this way were successfully grown for the first time in November. Since they’re raised in a non-tropical climate, they don’t have any natural predators, which means no pesticides are used and Mongee Bananas are organically grown. They’re sweeter than regular bananas, with 24.8 grams of sugar, as opposed to the average 18.3 grams. Because of that, they’re also stickier and have a much stronger smell. Try this incredible edible fruit! ???? (Source/Images ©SoraNews24) #freedomjapanesemarket #okayama #japan #japanese #mongee #banana #edible #edibleskin #incredible #fruit #organic #organicallygrown #snack #box #japanesefood #rare #didyouknow #fyi #info #love #delicacy #landoftherisingsun #monday #thoughts #food #foodporn #foodgasm #foodlover

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The change in temperature reportedly causes the plants to grow quickly, leaving the fruit with a peel that has a “lettuce”-like texture.

The creators have named the new banana ‘Mongee’ and they currently cost €5 EACH.