[即時新聞]180201-Japan makes banana with peel you can eat

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It is hard to believe, but there is now a banana with a skin you can eat. Most people would never eat the peel of a banana. However, banana farmers in Japan created a technique of growing bananas with a peel we can eat. The new method is called the "freeze-thaw awakening" technique. Farmers in the west of Japan keep their banana trees at a freezing temperature of -60°C. The farmers then put the trees in 27ºC temperatures. The big change in temperature makes the tree suddenly grow. It grows too quickly for the peel to fully develop. This makes the skin thin and soft enough to eat.

The new banana is called the "Mongee". Farmers are selling it in bunches of 10 bananas. They are not cheap. One banana costs yen 650 (about six dollars). The farmers have not grown many of them, so the price is high. They want to grow more, so this means the price will come down. Bananas are Japan's most popular fruit. Japan imports about 99% of its bananas. The Mongee could mean Japanese people will eat more bananas that are grown in Japan. The Mongee banana skin is very sweet. It contains nutrients such as vitamin B6 and magnesium.