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Article: Can Goldfinger Dethrone the Top Banana?
- Article from:
- Chicago Sun-Times
- Article date:
- May 18, 1994
- Author:
CopyrightCopyright 1994 Chicago Sun-Times. (Hide copyright information)
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Yes, we have new bananas!
They're Goldfingers - shorter, stouter, straighter, taste a bit
more like an apple.
And, said Phillip Rowe, head of the Honduras-based research
program that developed the new variety, eventually we may have to
learn to love them.
That is because a fungus named Black Sigatoka virtually could
wipe out the current top banana among U.S. imports, the Cavendish, in
as little as five years, Rowe says. And, unlike other fruits, until
now there was no second banana.
"If one pear variety goes out, there are five more pear
varieties that are quite acceptable," Rowe said. "If this banana
variety (Cavendish) goes out, there is not another one."
Hundreds of varieties ...