It is estimated that as many as 100 million people subsist on bananas and plantains as their main energy source (Rowe, 1981). Also the international trade in bananas is of considerable economic importance. The estimated world production of banana and plantain fruits in 1990 was about 71 million tonnes; bananas accounted for 46 million tonnes of which, in 1989, 8.1 million tonnes were exported (FAO, 1989; FAO, 1990).