The skins of fruits are often the most nutrient and fiber rich parts, but they are not all created equal when it comes to taste. If those of apple and pear do not pose a problem for tasting, we see ourselves eating less that of banana… At least, until now. The Japanese agricultural research company D&T has indeed developed the "Mongee" banana (pronounced mon-gay, which means "incredible" in Japanese), a completely edible fruit. It is obtained through an extreme freezing process followed by thawing:the banana trees are first planted and pampered in an environment at -60 degrees, then they are thawed and planted again.
The sudden change in temperature allows the fruits to grow faster and completely changes the texture of their skin, which then becomes as thin as a lettuce leaf. The company claims that its Mongees bananas are much better than eating them, in part because they produce more sugar and so sweeten the flavor of their usually bitter skin. However, as revealed by the Metro site , these little marvels are not about to arrive on the European market:their production cost being very high, they are intended for sale in a department store in the city of Okayama, in the west of Japan. Only 10 of them are offered to customers each week for the modest sum of… €4.50 each! Well, finally, it's not bad for the wallet if these revolutionary bananas don't cross borders... They tickle our curiosity, in any case!
