Bananadine (psychoactive substance)

Bananadine is a substance reportedly concentrated in the interior of a banana peel that has presumed psychoactive properties, first named and elaborated in a letter to the Berkeley Barb alternative newspaper, in which the author explained that the banana's exposure to air and light caused the other parts of the herb to be converted to "bananadone", and further claimed "evidence indicates that prior to Dutch colonization a great banana cult stretched across the Indonesian Archipelago, [which] was subsequently eradicated by Dutch trading companies for economic reasons." These claims have not been substantiated.

Preparation

One recipe that was shared called for the processing of 15 lbs. of bananas, removing the peels and scraping the insides, boiling the peeled insides in water for two to three hours until it has been reduced to a solid paste, at which point the paste is baked for fifteen minutes until it has been calcined to a blackened powder. Such preparations were offered for sale in San Francisco and select other markets as Mellow Yellow during a brief window in the late 1960s, though whether they sold in any volume is unknown.

Press Coverage

• "Pick Your Load, Banana or Toad?", Berkeley Barb 4 (11): 3, 17 March 1967, https://voices.revealdigital.org/?a=d&d=BFBJFGD19670317.1.3&srpos=9&e=-------en-20-BFBJFGD-1 
• "Mellow Yellow Is Here, Trip on a Banana Peel (advertisement)", Berkeley Barb 4 (12): 9, 24 March 1967, https://voices.revealdigital.org/?a=d&d=BFBJFGD19670324.1.9&srpos=12&e=-------en-20-BFBJFGD-1 
• "BANANAS: 'Wholesome and then-some!'", Sun (Detroit, Mich.) (1): 3, 11, 1 May 1967, https://voices.revealdigital.org/?a=d&d=EBIDFEA196704.1.3&srpos=1&e=-------en-20--1