Question #988c5

1 Answer
Feb 13, 2016

About why bananas are yellow.

Explanation:

For the same reason leaves turn yellow in the fall: carotenoids. Yellow bananas have particular carotenoids called xanthophylls such as lutein, but carotenoids come in a wide variety of shades in the yellow to orange range.

As with trees, green bananas have chlorophyll which masks the other pigments. When the chlorophylls break down, the other colors show through, and the banana turns yellow.