Banana plants were first brought to Turkey in 1750 by a rich family who had ties to Egypt. Originally, the banana tree arrived in this country as a garden plant. When it was seen that the plant also bore fruit that tasted quite delicious, people started planting banana trees after 1930 to sell its fruit. The development of banana production began in the 1950s and it continued to grow especially in the region of Gazipasa, Alanya and Anamur until 1984, the year when plantation bananas showed up on the Turkish market. From this year on, local banana production has been falling to lower levels compared to past years. The worst enemy of banana producers is frost. It is quite rare here in the Mediterranean region to see the temperatures drop below the freezing point. But, once it hits, the entire banana crop is destroyed. That is another reason why the producers are now somewhat reluctant to grow bananas. Those who do, have taken their plants into greenhouses to protect them against the frost. Plastic greenhouse materials are not prohibitively expensive anyway. The kind of bananas produced in Turkey is called Musa Cavendish or Dwarf Cavendish, probably due to the shortness of the plant The body of the banana plant is like an onion below the earth surface. Leaves sprouting out of the body multiply above the surface and the leaf stems one over the other form the “fake” body of the plant, which is not a real tree trunk. After 25-30 leaves grow above the surface, a stem carrying a cluster of flowers appear on the “fake” trunk and rise into the air from among the leaves. The cluster of flowers turn into bunch of bananas in time.