Why are bananas curved? The word "banana" originates from Arabic and means "finger". The fruits grow like fingers on a banana hand in the flower. As soon as the overlying petal falls off, the banana fruit bends towards the sun. This is how they become curved. In Germany, bananas are the second most popular fruit, after apples. Despite tasting sweet, their past is a bitter one.

The "Food of the Gods" was mentioned as early as in the Hindu Holy Scriptures, written around 1200 BC. Even today, they are offered to the Gods as a sign of wealth and divine sweetness. The sweet, beautifully coloured fruit is regarded as the best one to introduce westerners to the magical world of subtropical fruit.

Long before the discovery of America by the Spanish, which went hand in hand with the discovery of the papaya, the tree melon was highly appreciated by native Americans, the Arawak Indians. They were distributed across the world by the Spanish and Portuguese, and are now cultivated throughout the tropics and subtropics.

The jackfruit is the largest tree-borne fruit in the world. With a length of up to 50 cm and a diameter of 25-50 cm, it can weigh up to 40 kg. Not only the individual fruits, which taste like bananas, but also the seeds, tasting of chestnuts, can be eaten. But beware: ripe fruits emit a strong unpleasant odour resembling that of rotten onions.