Banana not under threat of extinction in Australia: expert

An Australian professor has rubbished claims that bananas could be extinct within the next five to ten years from a fungal disease known as Sigatoka.

University of Queensland's Professor Andre Drenth told the Australian Associated Press on Thursday that this was because the disease was not in Australia at the moment.

"Black Sigatoka has only been in Australia once, in 2001 in Tully, and it was quickly eradicated," Drenth said.

He said since then strict guidelines and security measures have been put in place to ensure that the disease doesn't return. Among those guidelines was to discontinue the imports of any foreign bananas into Australia.

Drenth also said more monitoring around banana plantations, and molecular diagnostic tests to determine the fungal disease should be carried out frequently to ensure that the disease doesn't recur in Australia.

Recently, a British-based journal said that Australia's favourite supermarket food, the banana could be extinct in the next couple of years from Sigatoka which is made up from three fungal diseases.

The Australian Banana Growers Council said more than five million bananas are consumed by Australians daily.

The iconic Queenslander fruit is also known to be a healthy and nutritious snack, packed with full of potassium, vitamin C, vitamin B6, folate, niacin and riboflavin. Enditem