Researchers have warned that your favourite fruit could be extinct in as little as five years.

If you like a good banana – and who doesn’t? – you’d better make the most of it. According to University of California plant pathologist Ioannis Stergiopoulos, the humble fruit may only be around for another five to 10 years.

The reason? A disease compound known as the Sigatoka complex, which not only shuts down the immune system of the banana tree, but has evolved to mimic its metabolism, too. This allow it to produce enzymes that break down the plant’s cell walls, which in turn allows it to feed on the sugars and other carbohydrates within.

This is bad news for the 120 countries that produce the world’s annual banana crop – 100 million tonnes each year – not to mention for the people who rely on them to live. (Bananas are one of the world’s top five staples.)

Stergiopoulos said that the ubiquity of bananas in our homes and lunchboxes had resulted in an “image problem” for the fruit. We’re so used to the things that we’ve become complacent about them. But while everyone assumes that they’ll be around forever – mainly because they’ve been around forever – the truth is that they are particularly vulnerable to disease.

This is because the most popular varieties of the fruit – such as the Cavendish variety that we know so well from the supermarket – are grown from shoot cuttings rather than from seeds, sharing the genome that the Sigatoka complex has adapted to infiltrate.

“That is a recipe for disaster,” said Stergiopoulos, pointing out that Sigatoka already reduces banana yields by 40 per cent each year.

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One of the best solutions to the problem would be to develop a new banana variety and to let the Cavendish go gently into that good night. Another would be to take the scientists’ findings and use them to modify the Cavendish to be resistant to Sigatoka.

It might also be possible to develop new fungicides to address the pathogen, though with 35 per cent of production costs already going towards such treatments – which many farmers in poorer countries are unable to afford as it is – that route has its problems as well.

“Because many farmers can’t afford the fungicide, they grow bananas of lesser quality, which bring them less income,” Stergiopoulos said.

Australia’s experience with Sigatoka might give banana lovers some reason for hope. In 2001, Australia’s largest banana production area, Tully in far north Queensland, came close to extinction after black Sigatoka – one of three fungal diseases that comprise the complex – was discovered. An intense de-leafing programme was undertaken and Tully growers conducted a weekly aerial spraying campaign. In 2003, it was confirmed that black Sigatoka had being completely eradicated in the area – a world first.

Whatever the answer, we think you’d better enjoy your favourite fruit while it lasts. The recipes below should get you started. We’ll give the last word to Homer Simpson.

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