What could arguably be the world's most expensive banana went on sale at a Tokyo department store last Friday for nearly $6.
The banana, from Dole Japan, was one of 59 bananas sold at the Takashimaya Department Store for $5.80 each, Yahoo! Food reported. The batch was genetically designed by Dole scientists to be a sweeter, more fragrant version of regular bananas. The limited edition bananas, grown in a secret location, even came individually wrapped in a box stamped with its own serial number.
"The name of these bananas is 'Gokusen,' with the character for 'goku' referring to 'extreme' or culmination,' and the character for 'sen' referring to 'compilation,' " wrote the site Kotaku, explaining why only 59 bananas were sold, according to Yahoo! Food.
"Since they were released on May 9 (5/9), the event is a Japanese pun: the number five is 'go' while the number nine is 'ku.' "
The Gokusen was developed from 100 different types of bananas blended together to make what scientists call the perfect type. Then scientist took the 'perfect' type and grew it at a secret location in the Philippines 500 meters above sea-level, Japan Today reported, according to Yahoo! Food.
As a result, the Gokusen turned out to be 36.5 percent sweeter than regular bananas, 40 percent better in texture and 33.4 percent more fragrant, Yahoo! Food reported.
According to Kotaku, Gokusen bananas have been known as Japan's most favored banana since it appeared in 2009.
The idea of more expensive food tasting better is not completely outrageous. Researchers at Cornell University found in April that people tend to think food tastes better if they know it is more expensive.
The study was conducted on diners at an Italian restaurant in New York. Those who paid $8 for a plate at the restaurant's all you-can-eat buffet were 11 percent more likely to enjoy their food than those who paid $4 a plate.
