Potassium in bananas

[Phlegmak]

Hi.

Where does potassium in bananas come from? The ground? If banana trees have been growing in the same area for a few centuries, wouldn't all the potassium be sucked up, and the bananas no longer have potassium? Potassium is a metal. Why would a tree need to suck up a metal and stick it in its fruit?

The same question is valid for every other vegetable or fruit that is known for containing metals. Isn't spinach supposed to have iron?

 

[ShannonCT]

Hi.

Where does potassium in bananas come from? The ground? If banana trees have been growing in the same area for a few centuries, wouldn't all the potassium be sucked up, and the bananas no longer have potassium?

Fertilizer.

 

[Marsden]

A good question, one I've wondered myself. Corn is supposed to have Chromium in it and that's supposed to be good for you. I don't know how it gets there.

 

[Masquerouge]

Hi.

Where does potassium in bananas come from? The ground? If banana trees have been growing in the same area for a few centuries, wouldn't all the potassium be sucked up, and the bananas no longer have potassium? Potassium is a metal. Why would a tree need to suck up a metal and stick it in its fruit?

The same question is valid for every other vegetable or fruit that is known for containing metals. Isn't spinach supposed to have iron?

I think it comes from the ground. And I think that for some elements it does indeed run out, which is why crop rotation is such a great invention since the idea is to alternate between plants that "suck" different elements, so that the soil can regenerate, mostly via rain and possibly fertilizer.

 

[Brighteye]

One of the chaps in the lab mentioned a while ago that bananas don't have that much more potassium than other fruits; it's an urban myth, possibly caused by analysis of the skins, or maybe just an error.

The metals come from the ground, which is replenished by rivers and fertiliser. Things like potassium can be dissolved in groundwater as it sinks through the ground to the sea.

 

[Narz]

AFAIK, mineral content has dropped in most food in the United States (and anywhere else unsustainable agriculture is practiced). The chemical NPK formulas (chemical fertilizers) have allowed us to get far more out of balance than past empires (many of whom collapsed, in part due to overfarming & poor soil stewardship). In conjuction with cheap oil (dependent on it, usually made from it) it has allowed us to temporarily exceed human carrying capacity.

If you export a massive crop every year and due not rebuild the soil with compost you will get weaker and weaker soil every year (topsoil erosion, mineral loss, etc.), simple physics.

Permaculture & biodynamics are the answer BTW.

 

[AngryZealot]

Why would a tree need to suck up a metal and stick it in its fruit?

Metals are often co-factors in enzymatic reactions. They are also used to establish an electrochemical gradient across the cell membrane to drive other chemical reactions.

A simpler answer might be because other animals need potassium to live. It's in the banana tree's best interest to keep its fruit healthy, otherwise animals will evolve away from eating the fruit, and banana seeds will not get dispersed.

 

[Masquerouge]

Metals are often co-factors in enzymatic reactions. They are also used to establish an electrochemical gradient across the cell membrane to drive other chemical reactions.

A simpler answer might be because other animals need potassium to live. It's in the banana tree's best interest to keep its fruit healthy, otherwise animals will evolve away from eating the fruit, and banana seeds will not get dispersed.

You're just displacing the problem from the banana to the animals that eat it. Why do they need the potassium?

 

[Rhymes]

Couldn't potassium be metabolized by the genetic structure of banana cells? is that even possible?

 

[AngryZealot]

You're just displacing the problem from the banana to the animals that eat it. Why do they need the potassium?

Potassium is used by nerve cells to send electrical signals. It's also needed for an enzyme in the metabolism of carbohydrates.

 

[Perfection]

Star Dust.

 

[Shekwan]

You can get high off bananas if you get a load of them and scrape the inside of the skins and put it in a baking tray and cook. Then smoke the resulting substance. Awww yeah.

So in summary, fruit works in mysterious ways and sometimes we can't explain them.

 

[LightFang]

So in summary, fruit works in mysterious ways and sometimes we can't explain them.

That's such a dirty copout!

 

[Shekwan]

That's such a dirty copout!

It works for the church so it works for me.

 

[LightFang]

It works for the church so it works for me.

Who said that it works for them? It doesn't.

 

[Ecofarm]

One of the chaps in the lab mentioned a while ago that bananas don't have that much more potassium than other fruits

Perhaps he was pulling your leg. Is banana a fruit? No viable seeds...

 

[Bugfatty300]

You can get high off bananas if you get a load of them and scrape the inside of the skins and put it in a baking tray and cook. Then smoke the resulting substance. Awww yeah.

Thanks dude. You've just given me something to do this weekend.

 

[GoodGame]

Billions and Billions of Potassium molecules exist in nature.

Thanks to the Law of the Conversation of Matter and the elimination of potassium stealing space aliens, all the potassium is still here on Earth.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potassium

And actually, even plants use enzymes, and yes some of the enzymes need metals as cofactors.

Reading...it's fundamental.

Star Dust.

 

[Neomega]

Star Dust.

.................

 

[bhsup]

You can get high off bananas if you get a load of them and scrape the inside of the skins and put it in a baking tray and cook. Then smoke the resulting substance. Awww yeah.

So in summary, fruit works in mysterious ways and sometimes we can't explain them.

Boggles my mind how some things come about. Seriously, what in the devil made anyone to even THINK of doing that in the first place?