In Japanese, it’s being described as “Mongee” — the “incredible” banana. It looks just like any other banana, but it’s supposed to be softer and sweeter — and its peel is edible.

Even though they cost around US$6 each, the special bananas have had no trouble attracting customers to the one place in the country where they’re sold, the Tenmaya store in the southwestern city of Okayama.

The technique used by D&T Farm to create the Mongee banana is called “freeze-thaw awakening.” This method mimics the growing conditions of plants from the Ice Age some 20,000 years ago. The farmers first subject the saplings to freezing temperatures at -60 degrees Celsius. They are then taken out and allowed to thaw before replanting.

Japan is relatively cool and this could prevent bananas from growing, but for the freeze-thaw awakening, there is a change in temperature, which encourages the seedlings to grow a bit faster. The extreme temperature variation puts the banana’s growth into a sort of hyperspeed mode, so the peel doesn’t fully mature, leaving it with a texture like lettuce.

Taste-testers for the RocketNews24 site in Japan said the banana fruit itself — which has about 5 more grams of sugar per banana than the regular version — boasts a “very strong tropical flavor” akin to that of a pineapple. But the peel lacks any specific taste.

Although it’s said not to have a “strange texture” and is “fairly easy to eat,” the tasters added there “isn’t much flavor.” One experimenter said it was somewhat bitter, though not as much as the peels of regular bananas, which he also tasted.

Bananas are one of the most popular fruits in Japan. The country has long relied on imports from places like the Philippines, where the climate is better suited to growing the fruit. But D&T Farm is hoping to change that.

“Japan imports a million tons of bananas annually, but only makes less than 1 percent of its consumption,” CEO Tetsuya Tanaka said.

Tanaka said the company’s freezing formula could someday help address food shortages in the world by enabling farming in places known for cold, inhospitable temperatures like Siberia.

Words to Learn 相关词汇

【解冻】jiědòng thaw become or cause to become unfrozen

【荒凉的】huāngliáng de inhospitable not offering shelter, favorable conditions, etc.

这种香蕉的日文名叫做“Mongee”，即“棒极了”香蕉的意思。这种香蕉和其他香蕉看起来一样，但号称口感更软更甜，且外皮可以食用。

虽然每根售价约6美元，但却不愁销路。这种香蕉在日本仅在一家商店出售，那就是位于冈山市（地处日本西南部）的Tenmaya超市。

D&T Farm培育超级香蕉的技术被称为“冻融唤醒”。培育过程中模拟大约两万年前的冰河时代，需要先将香蕉树苗种植在接近零下60摄氏度的环境中，随后将香蕉树苗解冻再重新种下。

日本相对凉爽，不利于香蕉生长，但通过冻融唤醒，因为温度变化让树苗加速生长。

这种极端的温度变化会让香蕉的生长速度变快，因此香蕉皮不会完全成熟，质地如生菜一般。

日本网站RocketNews24的试吃者称，超级香蕉的果肉比每根普通香蕉含糖量高出5克左右，有着“浓郁的热带风味”，类似凤梨。但是果皮似乎没什么特别的味道。

据试吃者称，超级香蕉的果皮“口感不奇怪”，“嚼起来也很容易”，但也“没什么味道”。

一位试吃者表示，虽然它不像自己吃过的普通香蕉果皮那样，但还是稍微有点苦。

香蕉是日本人最喜欢的水果之一。日本长期依赖从菲律宾等国家进口，那里的气候更适合种植这种水果。但D&T Farm希望改变这种情况。

该公司首席执行官田中哲也说：“日本每年的香蕉进口量有一百万吨，但日本的香蕉产量却不及其消耗量的1%。”

田中哲也表示，D&T Farm的冷冻培育技术可能在未来帮助解决全球食品短缺问题，让人们能够在西伯利亚这样气温寒冷恶劣的地区种植农作物。

(Chinadaily.com.cn)