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Bananas are thought to have been first domesticated in Southeast Asia, and their consumption is mentioned in early Greek, Latin, and Arab writings; Alexander the Great saw bananas on an expedition to India.
East African Highland bananas originated from banana populations introduced to Madagascar probably from the region between Java, Borneo, and New Guinea; while Pacific plantains were introduced to the Pacific Islands from either eastern New Guinea or the Bismarck Archipelago.
Diploid and triploid forms of bananas have been identified, and their distribution throughout the world is a key piece of evidence. In addition, linguistic studies of local terms for bananas support the notion of the spread of the banana away from its point of origin: island southeast Asia.
In general, however, it can be said that bananas originated in Southeast Asia and the South Pacific around 8,000 to 5,000 BCE. From New Guinea and the Philippines, bananas dispersed far and wide across the tropics, in all directions.
Bananas are believed to have originated in Southeast Asia, specifically in modern-day Malaysia. Archaeological evidence suggests that these fruits have been cultivated for thousands of years, with their domestication beginning in Papua New Guinea.
The first recorded cultivation of bananas was in Papua New Guinea around 8000 BCE. These early bananas were not the same as the ones we eat today; they were small and had large seeds. As banana plants spread across Southeast Asia, they became a staple food crop for many cultures.
By the mid-1880s, at the same time United States officials removed import duties from the fruit, banana production expanded from Cuba and other islands in the Caribbean into Central America, including Mexico, Honduras, Costa Rica, Panama, and into such South American countries as Colombia.
These multidisciplinary studies have enabled the first reconstruction of the entire history of banana domestication and dispersal, from wild species to the current vast array of edible banana varieties.
The origin of bananas has been pinned to Kuk Valley, New Guinea. Archeologists have narrowed down banana domestication to have started in 8000 BCE (Before Common Era). Musa acuminata and Musa balbisiana are the first species to be domesticated.
The origins of the banana date back to over 7,000 years ago and was found somewhere in Southeast Asia. The wild ancestor of Banana's, AKA the "Musa acuminata", is native to this region. Early humans discovered the new fruit that was growing in the wild and began cultivating it.