We know the artificial flavour of banana quite well, the aroma we find in ice cream and sweets. We also know that it is surprisingly different than the real banana taste. Why?

There’s a story that the archetypal banana flavouring has authentic origins. Artificial banana flavourings were developed from an old variety of real banana called the Gros Michel, once prevalent in Western supermarkets. That was until a ruthless fungus called Fusarium oxysporum, or “Panama disease”, all but wiped out the Gros Michel during the 20th Century. To keep the demand for bananas satiated, producers cultivated a banana strain known as the Cavendish, which was resistant to Panama disease but which had a somewhat different flavour.

The story goes that more pungent Gros Michel-derived flavourings persisted, which accounts for the dichotomy between banana flavourings and the commonly eaten fruit.