Banana, Hybrid plantains

Where does Banana grow?

Found in: Africa, Amazon, American Samoa, Andamans, Angola, Antigua & Barbuda, Aruba, Asia, Australia, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belize, Bolivia, Bougainville, Brazil, British Indian Ocean Terr., BIOT, Brunei, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cambodia, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Caroline Islands, Caucasus, Central Africa, Central African Republic, CAR, Central America, China, Chuuk, Colombia, Congo DR, Congo R, Cook Islands, Costa Rica, Côte d'Ivoire, Cuba, Curacao, Dominica, East Africa, East Timor, Easter Island, Ecuador, Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia, Fiji, French Polynesia, FSM, Georgia, Ghana, Grenada, Guadeloupe, Guam, Guatemala, Guiana, Guianas, Guinea, Guinée, Guatemala, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Haiti, Hawaii, Himalayas, Honduras, India, Indochina, Indonesia, Ivory Coast, Jamaica, Kenya, Kiribati, Korea, Laos, Libya, Madagascar, Malawi, Malaysia, Mariana Islands, Marquesas, Marshall Islands, Martinique, Mexico, Micronesia, Myanmar, Nauru, Nepal, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Niger, Nigeria, North Africa, North America, Northeastern India, Pacific, Pakistan, Panama, Papua New Guinea, PNG, Peru, Philippines, Pohnpei, Rotuma, Rwanda, Samoa, Sao Tome and Principe, Saudi Arabia, SE Asia, Sierra Leone, Sikkim, Singapore, Slovenia, Solomon Islands, Somalia, South Africa, Southern Africa, South America, South Sudan, Sri Lanka, St Helena, St Lucia, St. Vincent and Grenadines, Sudan, Suriname, Tahiti, Taiwan, Tanzania, Thailand, Timor-Leste, Tokelau, Tonga, Turks & Caicos, Tuvalu, Uganda, Uruguay, United States, Vanuatu, Venezuela, Vietnam, Wallis & Futuna, West Africa, West Papua, West Timor, Zambia, Zimbabwe

Notes: There are about 30 Musa species.

Status: The major food in many areas of the moist lowland tropics and an important supplement in most areas.

Growing Banana, Hybrid plantains

Cultivation: They are planted from sword suckers. Diploids need re-planting annually but many triploids can be re-suckered from the base on the same site. Spacing depends on variety. A spacing of 1000-3000 plants per hectare is used depending on variety. Suckers are usually put 30 cm deep.

Edible Uses: Fruit are eaten raw or cooked depending on variety. Male buds and flowers are eaten on some varieties. They are cooked as a vegetable. The central pith of the false stem and the underground rhizome are also sometimes eaten. The corm is boiled, dried and eaten with the false stem. (It has little food value)

Production: Time to maturity varies from 6 to 18 months depending on variety and altitude. Triploids have larger bunches than diploids. Tetraploids are very large plants.

Nutrition Info

Banana, Hybrid plantains Photos

References

AAK, 1980, Bertanam Pohon Buah-buahan. Penerbitan Yayasan Kanisius, Jogyakarta. p 54

Abbiw, D.K., 1990, Useful Plants of Ghana. West African uses of wild and cultivated plants. Intermediate Technology Publications and the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. p 30, 44

ALCORN,

Ambasta, S.P. (Ed.), 2000, The Useful Plants of India. CSIR India. p 386

Anderson, E. F., 1993, Plants and people of the Golden Triangle. Dioscorides Press. p 216

Awasthi, A.K., 1991, Ethnobotanical studies of the Negrito Islanders of Andaman Islands, India - The Great Andamanese. Economic Botany 45(2) pp274-280. (As Musa sapientum)

Azam, F. M. S., et al, 2014, Are Famine Food Plants Also Ethnomedicinal Plants? An Ethnomedicinal Appraisal of Famine Food Plants of Two Districts of Bangladesh. Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine Volume 2014, Article ID 741712, 28 pages

Barfod, A. S. & Kvist, L. P., 1996, Comparative Ethnobotanical Studies of the Amerindian Groups in Coastal Ecuador. Biologiske Skrifter 46. Copenhagen. p 76

Bennett, B. C., 1990, Useful Plants of Amazonian Ecuador. US Agency for International Development. Fifth Progress Report. New York Botanical Gardens. p 39

Bernholt, H. et al, 2009, Plant species richness and diversity in urban and peri-urban gardens of Niamey, Niger. Agroforestry Systems 77:159-179

Bianchini, F., Corbetta, F., and Pistoia, M., 1975, Fruits of the Earth. Cassell. p 176

Bodner, C. C. and Gereau, R. E., 1988, A Contribution to Bontoc Ethnobotany. Economic Botany, 43(2): 307-369

Bourret, D., 1981, Bonnes-Plantes de Nouvelle-Caledonie et des Loyaute. ORSTOM. p 17

Burkill, I.H., 1966, A Dictionary of the Economic Products of the Malay Peninsula. Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Vol 2 (I-Z) p 1533

Bussman, R. W., et al, 2016, A comparative ethnobotany of Khevsureti, Samtskhe-Javakheti, Tusheti, Svaneti, and Racha-Lechkhumi, Republic of Georgia (Sakartvelo), Caucasus. Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine (2016) 12:4

Call, C. A., et al, 2004, Participatory Rural Appraisal in the Upland Ecosystem of Mt Malindang, Misamis Occidental, Philippines. Biodiversity Research Programme for Development in Mindanao. p 53

Cobley, L.S. (rev. Steele, W.M.) 2nd Ed., 1976, An Introduction to the Botany of Tropical Crops. Longmans. p 153

Coe, F. G., and Anderson, G. J., 1996, Ethnobotany of the Garifuna of Eastern Nicaragua. Economic Botany 50(1) pp 71-107

Coe, F. G. and Anderson, G. J., 1999, Ethnobotany of the Sumu (Ulwa) of Southeastern Nicaragua and Comparisons with Miskitu Plant Lore. Economic Botany Vol. 53. No. 4. pp. 363-386

Coronel, R.E., 1982, Fruit Collections in the Philippines. IBPGR Newsletter p 7

Cull, B.W., 1995, Fruit Growing in Warm Climates. Reed. p 63

Cundall, P., (ed.), 2004, Gardening Australia: flora: the gardener's bible. ABC Books. p 906 (As Musa x paradisiaca)

Dharani, N., 2002, Field Guide to common Trees & Shrubs of East Africa. Struik. p 134 (As Musa sapientum)

Englberger, L., et al, 2006, Documentation of the traditional food system of Pohnpei. Indigenous People's food systems. Chp 6 p 119

Etherington, K., & Imwold, D., (Eds), 2001, Botanica's Trees & Shrubs. The illustrated A-Z of over 8500 trees and shrubs. Random House, Australia. p 484

Ethnobotany of Karbis. Chapter 4 in p 105

Facciola, S., 1998, Cornucopia 2: a Source Book of Edible Plants. Kampong Publications, p 156 (As Musa x paradisiaca)

Flora of Pakistan. www.eFloras.org

Flowerdew, B., 2000, Complete Fruit Book. Kyle Cathie Ltd., London. p 146

Fowler, D. G., 2007, Zambian Plants: Their Vernacular Names and Uses. Kew. p 67

Franklin, J., Keppel, G., & Whistler, W., 2008, The vegetation and flora of Lakeba, Nayau and Aiwa Islands, Central Lau Group, Fiji. Micronesica 40(1/2): 169–225, 2008

French, B.R., 1986, Food Plants of Papua New Guinea, A Compendium. Asia Pacific Science Foundation p 25

French, B.R., 2010, Food Plants of Solomon Islands. A Compendium. Food Plants International Inc. p 30

Friday, J. B., 2005, Forestry and Agroforestry Trees of East Timor. http://www.ctahr.hawaii.edu/forestry/data/Timor/Timor trees.html

Furusawa, T., et al, 2014, Interaction between forest biodiversity and people's used of forest resources in Roviana, Solomon Islands: implications for biocultural conservation under socioeconomic changes. Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine, 10:10

GAMMIE, (As Musa sapientum)

Gangte, H. E., et al, 2013, Wild Edible Plants used by the Zou Tribe in Manipur, India. International Journal of Scientific and Research Publications, Volume 3, Issue 5

Ghimeray, A. K., Lamsal, K., et al, 2010, Wild edible angiospermic plants of the Illam Hills (Eastern Nepal) and their mode of use by local community. Korean J. Pl. Taxon. 40(1)

Gillaumin, R., 1954, Les Plantes utiles des Nouvelles-Hebrides (fin et complement) In: Journal d'agriculture tropicale et de botanique appliquee Vol. 1, No. 10-12 pp 453-460 (As Musa sapientum)

Goode, P., 1989, Edible Plants of Uganda. FAO p 27

Guite, C., 2016, A study of wild edible plants associated with the Paite tribe of Manipur, India, International Journal of Current Research. Vol. 8, Issue, 11, pp. 40927-40932

Hedrick, U.P., 1919, (Ed.), Sturtevant's edible plants of the world. p 423 (As Musa sapientum)

http://www.fao.org/forestry/25323-096344a3de335832e8f363c3ac5184a66.pdf

http://www.botanic-gardens-ljubljana.com/en/plants

Hu, Shiu-ying, 2005, Food Plants of China. The Chinese University Press. p 325

Jardin, C., 1970, List of Foods Used In Africa, FAO Nutrition Information Document Series No 2.p 18

Katende, A.B., Birnie, A & Tengnas B., 1995, Useful Trees and Shrubs for Uganda. Identification, Propagation and Management for Agricultural and Pastoral Communities. Technical handbook No 10. Regional Soil Conservation Unit, Nairobi, Kenya. p 438

John, L., & Stevenson, V., 1979, The Complete Book of Fruit. Angus & Robertson p 68

Khan, D. & Shaukat, S.S., 2006, The Fruits of Pakistan: Diversity, Distribution, Trends of Production and Use. Int. J. Biol. Biotech., 3(3):463-499

Khodram,S. D., et al, 2019, Local knowledge of edible flowers used in Mizoram. Indian Journal of Traditional Knowledge Vol 18(40 pp 715-723

Kumar, A., et al, 2012, Ethnobotanical Edible Plant Biodiversity of Lepcha Tribes. Indian Forester, 138 (9):798-803

Kuo, W. H. J., (Ed.) Taiwan's Ethnobotanical Database (1900-2000), http://tk.agron.ntu.edu.tw/ethnobot/DB1.htm (As Musa paradisiaca)

Latham, P., 2004, Useful Plants of Bas-Congo province. Salvation Army & DFID p 198

Lautenschläger, T., et al, 2018, First large-scale ethnobotanical survey in the province of Uíge, northern Angola. Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine (2018) 14:51

Lembaga Biologi Nasional, 1977, Buah-Buahan, Balai Pustaka, Jakarta. p 104

Lim, T. K., 2015, Edible Medicinal and Non Medicinal Plants. Volume 9, Modified Stems, Roots, Bulbs. Springer p 57

Lorenzi, H., Bacher, L., Lacerda, M. & Sartori, S., 2006, Brazilian Fruits & Cultivated Exotics. Sao Paulo, Instituto Plantarum de Estuados da Flora Ltda. p 444

Lyle, S., 2006, Discovering fruit and nuts. Land Links. p 290

Macmillan, H.F. (Revised Barlow, H.S., et al) 1991, Tropical Planting and Gardening. Sixth edition. Malayan Nature Society. Kuala Lumpur. p 288

Manandhar, N.P., 2002, Plants and People of Nepal. Timber Press. Portland, Oregon. p 326

Martin, F. W., et al, 1987, Perennial Edible Fruits of the Tropics. USDA Handbook 642 p 39

Massal, E and Barrau, J., 1973, Food Plants of the South Sea Islands. SPC Technical Paper No 94. Nounea, New Caledonia. p 11-18

Miguel, E., et al, 1989, A checklist of the cultivated plants of Cuba. Kulturpflanze 37. 1989, 211-357

Morton, J. F., 1987, Fruits of Warm Climates. Wipf & Stock Publishers p 29

Murtem, G. & Chaudhrey, P., 2016, An ethnobotanical note on wild edible plants of Upper Eastern Himalaya, India. Brazilian Journal of Biological Sciences, 2016, v. 3, no. 5, p. 63-81

Ochse, J.J. et al, 1931, Vegetables of the Dutch East Indies. Asher reprint. p 515

Ojelel, S., et al, 2019, Wild edible plants used by communities in and around selected forest reserves of Teso-Karamoja region, Uganda. Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine (2019) 15:3

Owen, S., 1993, Indonesian Food and Cookery, INDIRA reprints. p 79

Paul, A., 2013, Minor and uncultivated fruits of Eastern India, 2nd International Symposium on Minor Fruits and Medicinal Plants

Pawera, L., et al, 2020, Wild Food Plants and Trends in Their Use: From Knowledge and Perceptions to Drivers of Change in West Sumatra, Indonesia, Foods. 2020, 9, 1240

Paz, F. S., et al, 2021, Edible Fruit Plant Species in the Amazon Forest Rely Mostly on Bees and Beetles as Pollinators. Journal of Economic Entomology, XX(XX), 2021, 1–13

Phawa, G. M., Dkhar, E. K. & Marbaniang, D., 2019, Indigenous Wild Edible Plants of Bataw Village, East Jaintia Hills District, Meghalaya. International Journal of Arts, Science and Humanities. 7(2)

Phon, P., 2000, Plants used in Cambodia. © Pauline Dy Phon, Phnom Penh, Cambodia. p 449

Prashanth Kumar, G.M. and Shiddamallayya, N., 2015, Ethnobotanical Study of Less Known Wild Edible Plants of Hakki Pikki Tribes of Angadihalli, Hassan District, Karnataka. Journal or Medicinal Plants Studies 3(5):80-85

PROSEA (Plant Resources of South East Asia) handbook, Volume 2, 1991, Edible fruits and nut. p 225

Purseglove, J.W., 1972, Tropical Crops. Monocotyledons. Longmans p 345

Rajapaksha, U., 1998, Traditional Food Plants in Sri Lanka. HARTI, Sri Lanka. p 315

Rao, M. L. S., et al, 2014, Indigenous Plant Foods which are commonly consumed by the tribal communities in Dumbriguda Area of Visakhapatnam District, Andhra Pradesh, India. Biolife. Vol 2, Issue 3

Rashid, H. E., 1977, Geography of Bangladesh. Westview. p 332

Ruiters-Welcome, A. K., 2019, Food plants of southern Africa. Ph.D. thesis. Univ. of Johannesburg p 80

Schneider, E., 2001, Vegetables from Amaranth to Zucchini: The essential reference. HarperCollins. p 26, 490

Segura, S., et al, 2018, The edible fruit species in Mexico. Genet Resour Crop Evol (2018) 65:1767–1793

Sillitoe, P. 1995, An Ethnobotanical Account of the Plant Resources of the Wola Region, Southern Highlands Province, Papua New Guinea. J. Ethnobiol. 15(2): 201-235

Simmonds, N.W., 1979, Bananas, in Simmonds, N.W., (ed), Crop Plant Evolution. Longmans. London. p 211

Small, E., 2009, Top 100 Food Plants. The world's most important culinary crops. NRC Research Press. p 101

Smith, A.C., 1979, Flora Vitiensis Nova, Lawaii, Kuai, Hawaii, Volume 1 p 183

Solomon, C., 2001, Encyclopedia of Asian Food. New Holland. p 283

Staples, G.W. and Herbst, D.R., 2005, A tropical Garden Flora. Bishop Museum Press, Honolulu, Hawaii. p 709 (As Musa acuminata x Musa balbisiana)

Sukenti, K., et al, 2016, Ethnobotanical study on local cuisine of the Sasak tribe in Lombok Island, Indonesia. Journal of Ethnic Foods. 3 (2016) 189-200 p 198

Tankard, G., 1990, Tropical fruit. An Australian Guide to Growing and using exotic fruit. Viking p 24

Tate, D., 1999, Tropical Fruit. Archipelago Press. Singapore. p 72

Teron, R. & Borthakur, S. K., 2016, Edible Medicines: An Exploration of Medicinal Plants in Dietary Practices of Karbi Tribal Population of Assam, Northeast India. In Mondal, N. & Sen, J.(Ed.) Nutrition and Health among tribal populations of India. p 153

Thaman, R.R., 1976, The Tongan Agricultural System, University of the South Pacific, Suva, Fiji. p 412

Thaman, R. R., 1987, Plants of Kiribati: A listing and analysis of vernacular names. Atoll Research Bulletin No. 296

Thaman, R. R, 2016, The flora of Tuvalu. Atoll Research Bulletin No. 611. Smithsonian Institute p 48

Thokchom, R., et al, 2016, Documentation and assessment of wild medicinal and edible flowers of valley districts of Manipur. International Journal of Research in Applied, Natural and Social Sciences. 4(11):13-20

Timyan, J., 1996, Bwa Yo: Important Trees of Haiti. SE Consortium for International Development. Washington. p 211

Topp, J. M. W., 1988, An Annotated Check List of the Flora of Diego Garcia, British Ocean Territory. Atoll Research Bulletin No. 313

USDA, ARS, National Genetic Resources Program. Germplasm Resources Information Network - (GRIN). [Online Database] National Germplasm Resources Laboratory, Beltsville, Maryland. Available: www.ars-grin.gov/cgi-bin/npgs/html/econ.pl (10 April 2000)

Vael, L., 2015, Ethnobotanical study of the plant use in the natural landscape of two mestizo communities in the Ucayali region of the Peruvian Amazon. Universiteit Gent.

Vasquez, R. and Gentry, A. H., 1989, Use and Misuse of Forest-harvested Fruits in the Iquitos Area. Conservation Biology 3(4): 350f

Vickery, M.L. and Vickery, B., 1979, Plant Products of Tropical Africa, Macmillan. p 35

Wahyudi, 2017, Non-timber Forest Product (NTFP) Commodities Harvested and Marketed by Local People at the Local Markets in Manokwari - West Papua. Indonesian Journal of Forestry Research Vol. 4, No. 1, 27-35

Walter, A. & Lebot, V., 2007, Gardens of Oceania. ACIAR Monograph No. 122. p 276

Williams, C.N., Chew, W.Y., and Rajartnam, J.A., 1989, Tree and Field Crops of the Wetter Regions of the Tropics. Longman, p 89

Williamson, J., 2005, Useful Plants of Malawi. 3rd. Edition. Mdadzi Book Trust. p 172

Wiriadinata, H., 1995, Ethnobotany of Economic Plants in the Baliem Valley, Jayawijaya, Irian Jaya, Indonesian Institute of Science, Bogor, Indonesia

Zaldivar, M. E., et al, 2002, Species Diversity of Edible Plants Grown in Homegardens of Chibehan Amerindians from Costa Rica. Human Ecology, Vol. 30, No. 3, pp. 301-316

Zizka, G., 1991, Flowering Plants of Easter Island. Palmarum Hortus Francofurtensis