A banana is an elongated, edible fruit botanically a berry produced by several kinds of large herbaceous flowering plants in the genus Musa. In some countries, bananas used for cooking may be called "plantains", distinguishing them from dessert bananas. Ripe bananas have a pH of about 5, making them a mildly acidic food. That does not mean that bananas cause heartburn or reflux, however. Source Of. One serving, or one medium ripe banana, provides about 110 calories, 0 gram fat, 1 gram protein, 28 grams carbohydrate, 15 grams sugar (naturally occurring), 3 grams fiber, and 450 mg potassium. vandame/Shutterstock The INSIDER Summary: The little strings inside bananas are called phloem bundles. They have an important purpose: they distribute nutrients throughout the fruit. They are completely edible even though they seem a bit gross. Bananas are both a fruit and not a fruit. While the banana plant is colloquially called a banana tree, it's actually an herb distantly related to ginger, since the plant has a succulent tree stem, instead of a wood one. The yellow thing you peel and eat is, in fact, a fruit because it contains the seeds of the plant. Bananas are fruits, although the plants bananas grow on are considered herbaceous, or non-woody. This makes banana plants technically herbs, but no relation to ground or tree nuts. They were small, about as long as an adult finger, hence the name â??bananâ??, Arabic for finger. However, some believe the name may have come from a local language in West Africa. Bananas are also known as plantains. Spaniards, who saw a similarity to their native plane tree, gave the fruit the name platano. Bananas are a good source of several vitamins and minerals, especially potassium, vitamin B6, and vitamin C. Bananas are a good source of potassium. A diet high in potassium can lower blood pressure in people with elevated levels and benefits heart health. Bananas are a good source of several vitamins and minerals, especially potassium, vitamin B6, and vitamin C ( 1 ). Potassium. Bananas are a good source of potassium. A diet high in potassium can lower blood pressure in people with elevated levels and benefits heart health berry, in botany, a simple fleshy fruit that usually has many seeds, such as the banana, grape, and tomato. As a simple fruit, a berry is derived from a single ovary of an individual flower. The middle and inner layers of the fruit wall often are not distinct from each other.