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indyaround t1_j9f0umb wrote

In school my science teacher told us artificial banana flavoring was based on a banana variety wiped out from disease. I have been telling people this for years, TIL THE TRUTH.

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ds_afk t1_j9fbj96 wrote

The scientist cited in the article just says it is very unlikely. Not the slam dunk I was hoping for.

>However, if you dig in to this tale a little it soon becomes clear that there is little or no verifiable source that artificial banana is based on Gros Michel. “It sounds very, very unlikely to me,” says synthetic organic chemist Derek Lowe.

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Potatoswatter t1_j9j29xm wrote

What was debunked here? Isoamyl acetate isn’t naturally derived from old stocks of extinct bananas?

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MuForceShoelace t1_j9ewkbr wrote

Basically the important thing to know is there is a chemical called an "ester". In around the 1950s we figured out it was really easy to make them, and that they were a big part of what we could smell and taste, so they just made every single one and then just went oe by one smelling and tasting them and just gave them names. They didn't really design or copy anything, they just took 60 chemicals and went "uhh.... grape?" "uhh... that is... uh.... fruit punch" to each because they are basically the cheapest fruit/candy flavoring or smell you can make so they want to use all of them.

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MuForceShoelace t1_j9ewpb4 wrote

Allyl hexanoate Prop-2-enyl hexanoate.svg pineapple

Benzyl acetate Benzyl acetate-structure.svg pear, strawberry, jasmine

Bornyl acetate Bornyl acetate.svg pine

Butyl acetate Butylacetat.svg apple, honey

Butyl butyrate Butyl butyrate2.svg pineapple

Butyl propanoate pear drops

Ethyl acetate Ethyl acetate2.svg nail polish remover, model paint, model airplane glue

Ethyl benzoate Ethyl benzoate.svg sweet, wintergreen, fruity, medicinal, cherry, grape

Ethyl butyrate Ethyl butyrate2.svg banana, pineapple, strawberry

Ethyl hexanoate Ethyl-hexanoate.svg pineapple, waxy-green banana

Ethyl cinnamate Ethyl-cinnamate.svg cinnamon

Ethyl formate Ethyl-formate.svg lemon, rum, strawberry

Ethyl heptanoate Ethyl-heptanoate.svg apricot, cherry, grape, raspberry

Ethyl isovalerate Ethyl isovalerate structure.svg apple

Ethyl lactate Ethyl lactate.svg butter, cream

Ethyl nonanoate Ethyl-nonanoate.svg grape

Ethyl pentanoate Ethyl valerate.svg apple

Geranyl acetate Geranyl-acetate.svg geranium

Geranyl butyrate Geranyl butyrate.svg cherry

Geranyl pentanoate Geranyl pentanoate.svg apple

Isobutyl acetate Isobutyl-acetate.svg cherry, raspberry, strawberry

Isobutyl formate Isobutyl formate.svg raspberry

Isoamyl acetate Isoamyl acetate.svg pear, banana (flavoring in Pear drops)

Isopropyl acetate Isopropyl acetate.svg fruity

Linalyl acetate Linalyl acetate.svg lavender, sage

Linalyl butyrate Linalyl butyrate.svg peach

Linalyl formate Linalyl formate.svg apple, peach

Methyl acetate Methyl-acetate.svg glue

Methyl anthranilate Methyl anthranilate.svg grape, jasmine

Methyl benzoate Methyl benzoate.svg fruity, ylang ylang, feijoa

Methyl butyrate (methyl butanoate) Buttersauremethylester.svg pineapple, apple, strawberry

Methyl cinnamate Methyl cinnamate.svg strawberry

Methyl pentanoate (methyl valerate) Methyl pentanoate.svg flowery

Methyl phenylacetate Methyl phenylacetate.svg honey

Methyl salicylate (oil of wintergreen) Methyl salicylate.svg Modern root beer, wintergreen, Germolene and Ralgex ointments (UK)

Nonyl caprylate Nonyl caprylate.svg orange

Octyl acetate Octyl acetate.svg fruity-orange

Octyl butyrate Octyl butyrate.svg parsnip

Amyl acetate (pentyl acetate) Amyl acetate.svg apple, banana

Pentyl butyrate (amyl butyrate) Pentyl butyrate.svg apricot, pear, pineapple

Pentyl hexanoate (amyl caproate) Pentyl hexanoate.svg apple, pineapple

Pentyl pentanoate (amyl valerate) Pentyl pentanoate.svg apple

Propyl acetate Propyl acetate.svg pear

Propyl hexanoate Propyl-hexanoate.svg blackberry, pineapple, cheese, wine

Propyl isobutyrate Propyl isobutyrate.svg rum

Terpenyl butyrate Terpenyl butyrate.svg cherry

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tossinthisshit1 t1_j9fpved wrote

gros michel wasn't even wiped out. you can still get them in tropical areas. pretty sure my mother's banana tree in florida grew gros michels. you can definitely get them if you visit a tropical country and go to a farmers market

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InncnceDstryr t1_j9hlfb9 wrote

Do they legit taste like artificial banana?

I can totally believe it that they could. I went to Tenerife once and they grow bananas there. The local bananas were amazing. The best, sweetest fullest tasting bananas I’ve ever had.

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lolokaydudewhatever t1_j9i3kgx wrote

>The best, sweetest fullest tasting bananas I’ve ever had.

Ill give you a sweet full tasting banana

( ͡ ͡° ͜つ ͡͡° )

−5

CatDogBoogie t1_j9n9jif wrote

Sorry son. I'll have to take it back from you mother first.

Tell her I'll be a little late tonight. I have overtime at work.

0

GarysCrispLettuce t1_j9eua6e wrote

I'll bet a sizable % of the population prefers artificial banana flavoring to bananas themselves. I know I do.

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myeff t1_j9ewbhx wrote

I have a weird thing with bananas; I can only eat them when they are mostly green, just barely turning yellow. Once they are ripe with even one tiny brown spot, they are disgusting garbage.

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GarysCrispLettuce t1_j9f2x2r wrote

They are actually better for you when they are slightly green because the fiber in them is of a more superior form at that point.

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opiate_lifer t1_j9g23o5 wrote

Did you know you can boil or fry really green bananas(like still rock hard) and they have the consistency and flavour of a root starch like potatoes? They are pretty good just mashed with a bit of salt and cayenne.

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StudentMed t1_j9h6i8j wrote

You sure that isn't plantains?

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opiate_lifer t1_j9h90ab wrote

Plantains too! But green bananas are perfectly edible when cooked.

https://eatwithyoureyesllc.com/274/boiled-green-bananas/

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StudentMed t1_j9hc3jh wrote

Sounds like something someone does once or twice but then never again.

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opiate_lifer t1_j9hd0qk wrote

I have eaten them regularly when they were available just because could get them super cheap and I was sick of potatoes. I did not bother to peel them before cooking, they come out of the peel easily once boiled. I have never eaten the peel.

The bananas themselves once boiled and peeled have the texture and taste comparable to potatoes or another savoury root starch.

Its not something I'd pay top dollar for or seek out, but it was fine for adding some variety to my carbs and cheap so why not.

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ScrunchyButts t1_j9fibc6 wrote

They give me a stomach ache and taste bitter if even a little green. I like them good and ripe.

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usmcnick0311Sgt t1_j9jby2n wrote

More people will lick another human's anus than eat a banana with a brown spot.

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kozmonyet t1_j9fu0un wrote

That surprises me as artificial banana is one of the absolute worst of the artificial flavorings in my book--gaggingly horrible and nothing like a real banana at all.

Edit: Since it was covered in other comments--for the record, I prefer my bananas on the green side and once they are fully ripe, they are less than desirable but still edible. Once over-ripe they are downright nasty.

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Worldwideimp t1_j9gawt1 wrote

Fyi, this chemical is stupid volatile. When used as a solvent you will find yourself suffocating with the cloying scent of banana.

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oogeej t1_j9evsio wrote

I remember not too long ago I burped through my nose after eating a banana and learned then that the 'banana flavour' wasn't so artificial.

−4

[deleted] t1_j9eunxh wrote

Has that isoamyl acetate synthetisation happened after the gros michel went extinct? Or how does this article prove how the artificial flqvour isn’t modeled after the gros michel taste?

−6

zippotato t1_j9f0jyb wrote

Gros Michel didn't go extinct. It was just replaced by Cavendish as the dominant cultivar on the market, and is still being produced in smaller scale.

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[deleted] t1_j9f0zb3 wrote

The gros michel is extinct, the few clones still available don’t change that, it is just a matter of time till they meet the fungus which doomed that clone.

Extinct as in not having a sustainqble population nor the ability to reproduce, clones

−14

zippotato t1_j9f3u51 wrote

I don't quite understand your reasoning here. It's not like there are only a handful of Gros Michel trees still standing in closed government laboratory. Farmers of multiple countries including the United States still grow and sell Gros Michel. It is now produced in smaller scale because preventing Panama disease is not economical enough for large scale farming, not because it is impossible to prevent it from getting hand on every single Gros Michel tree on the planet.

Yes, the tree is reproduced via cloning, but it goes same to Cavendish and you wouldn't say that Cavendish is already extinct.

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[deleted] t1_j9f55j3 wrote

Cloning is not reproducing, that is the whole point and just because some zoos hold a few animals of a species doesn’t mean the species isn’t extinct… do you understand how evolution works, our tinkering is artificial and does not contribute, the plant is extinct

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Koksny t1_j9fna11 wrote

In agriculture we actually reproduce most (almost all) fruiting perennials by cloning, because every and each seed is a bit different, and will grow into its own different species. That's how evolution works, my friend.

This is the difference between cultivation and farming. For cultivation, the plants are grown from seeds into mothers, and we sell the clippings (clones) to farmers, to provide best of species. But when farming, you will not plant an orchard from seeds, instead you wil use clones.

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