Bananas, the world's most popular fruit and the fourth most important food crop, is in deep trouble. Its genetic base, the wild bananas and traditional varieties cultivated in India, has collapsed.

Virtually all bananas traded internationally are of a single variety, the Cavendish, the genetic roots of which lie in India. According to New Scientist, for years, the world Cavendish crop has been threatened by pandemics of diseases such as that caused by the black sigatoka fungus. The main hope for survival of the Cavendish lies in developing new hybrids resistant to the fungus, but this is a difficult and time-consuming task because the seedless modern fruit does not reproduce sexually and has to be bred from cuttings.

The latest dish to tempt consumers is a green and red-striped tomato created in response to increased demand for novelty produce.

Creator, Marks & Spencer, says the tiger tomato is a cherry-sized fruit with magenta-colored skin and tastes slightly sweeter than standard varieties.

Shaveta Bansal - All Headline News Contributor

Melbourne, Australia - The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has ordered a juice manufacturer to change the name of his well-known fruit juice or find himself squeezed out of business.

The Guinness Book of World Records confirms that a Hawaiian woman has grown the world's heaviest mango.

Weighing 5 pounds, 7 ounces, the mango is about the size of a human head.