Bananas don't grow on trees! The plant that they grow on is actually a herb – in fact the largest herb in the world!

In the wild, banana plants can grow up to 9 metres tall, but the trees in the Dole plantations are about 4 metres tall.

The average New Zealander eats 18.7kg of bananas per year. That's the equivalent of a banana 26.71 metres long or about 19 kids with their arms stretched out to touch each other!

Bananas ripen best once they have been picked so they are usually picked when they are green.

Bananas grow on a 'stem'. The bananas on a stem are called a 'bunch'. Groups of 10 – 20 bananas form a 'hand' and each banana is called a 'finger'.

Everyone likes their bananas at different stages of ripeness, but they are much easier for your tummy to digest when the skins are fully yellow or have a little bit of brown speckling on them.

If your banana isn't ripe enough for you, put the banana in a bag with an apple or a kiwi fruit and it will ripen much quicker.

It is believed by many experts that bananas were the first fruit cultivated by humans.

In tropical regions where bananas are grown, the large leaves are sometimes used as umbrellas. They are also sometimes used as a plate or to wrap food in to store or cook it.

The Philippines is where Dole grows the bananas that it brings into New Zealand. In 2007 the Philippines were the third biggest producer of bananas in the world.

Monkeys peel their bananas from the top end - the other end to how most of us peel them. Try this yourself, pinch the top end of a firm banana between your fingers and it should burst open and make it easy to peel – you'll even have a 'handle' to hold onto at the other end!

There are hundreds of different varieties of bananas but the most popular one in New Zealand is the Cavendish Banana (Dole's regular and Bobby Bananas are this variety)

You can turn a frozen banana into a kind of ice cream – see our recipe »

Bananas go brown when they have been cut, but if you don't want this to happen, just toss them in some lemon or pineapple juice.

Plantains are a kind of green banana that are almost always used for cooking.

If a mosquito bites you, you could try rubbing the bite with the inside of a banana skin. This can often help with the swelling and the itching.

When the banana was first displayed in America at the Philadelphia Centennial Exhibition in 1876, it was so unusual that it received more interest than the world's first telephone!

Bananas make a great face mask! So if you want to pamper your mum, mash up a ripe banana and gently apply it to her face. Then let her relax for 10 minutes before rinsing it off with cool water. She'll love it.

The pineapple is native to Brazil and Paraguay, but the pineapples Dole brings into New Zealand are grown in the biggest pineapple plantation in the world, on Mindanao Island in the Philippines.

Christopher Columbus found pineapples on the Caribbean island of Guadalupe in 1493. He took them to Spain where the Europeans thought the fruit resembled a pine cone.

Sailors soon discovered that the fruit was great protection against scurvy – a nasty disease that affected sailors in particular. The disease was a result of a diet that lacked vitamin C. Pineapples helped because they are extremely high in this vitamin.

In the Caribbean the pineapple symbolised hospitality and the Europeans who travelled there knew they were welcome if a pineapple was placed at the entrance to the village. This symbolism quickly spread through Europe where the pineapple was often carved onto bedposts or fireplaces. The pineapple has been a universal symbol of hospitality and welcome all over the world for several hundred years.

Pineapples do not grow on trees. They are the fruit of a bromeliad, rising from the centre on a single spike surrounded by sword-like leaves. The pineapple plant is the only bromeliad to produce edible fruit.

Pineapples take about 18 months to grow to harvest size but can keep growing up to 7 or 8kg if allowed.

The Tropical Gold pineapples that Dole brings into New Zealand have had the 'crowns' or leaves at the top of the pineapple removed. These crowns are recycled in the Philippines where the pineapples are grown. They are made into plant material used to feed and replenish the soil and some of the crowns are selected to be replanted to grow new pineapples. This is what makes them 'eco pineapples'.

Pineapple is not a single fruit, but a sorosis. That means the fruit of a hundred or more separate flowers grow on the plant spike. As they grow, they swell with juice and pulp, expanding to become the fruit.

The juice from the pineapple can be used to stop other fruit from going brown – like bananas or apples. It is also good in a marinade to help tenderise the meat.

Don't put raw pineapple into jelly, as the bromelain enzyme in the pineapple will stop it setting.

In some countries paw paw is called papaya. It is native to southern Mexico and Central America and is now cultivated in many tropical regions.

Dole paw paw is grown in the Philippines and carefully harvested by hand to make sure the fruit doesn't bruise.

The paw paw, like the banana is not a tree but a large woody herb.

Dole paw paw is available in New Zealand in two colours, green and yellow. The green one is unripe and is usually eaten cooked or grated in salads. Ripe yellow paw paw is usually eaten raw.

The paw paw contains an enzyme called papain, which is great for tenderising meat.

Paw paw is full of vitamin C; in fact, just a half a small paw paw will give you one and a half times the daily amount of vitamin C your body needs.

It is believed that if you get stung by a jellyfish, rubbing the area with the skin of the paw paw will bring instant relief!

Coconut water is a 'cool' drink, so keep it in the fridge!

Coconuts grow on a tree called a coconut palm.

The 'nut' of the coconut is not really a nut at all. It is in fact a huge seed.

Coconut water is the clear liquid found inside young drinking coconuts, which are harvested when they are between 6 and 9 months old. A young coconut will contain about 2 cups of water

Coconut water is very pure, as it is filtered through the tree fibres as it is drawn up from the ground.

Coconut water is a really good sports drink, as it contains electrolytes, which naturally replenish your body's fluids after exercising.

The coconut water is very like our own blood plasma and is used in some developing countries for medical purposes instead of saline.

Dole Fresh Drinking Coconuts are grown in the Philippines and are harvested by hand.

There are about 20 billion coconuts harvested worldwide each year.