musa is the plant genus that includes the bananas and plantains.
musa is the plant genus that includes the bananas and plantains.
plant genus that includes the bananas and plantains?
musa
in regions such as north america and europe, "musa" fruits offered for sale can be divided into "bananas" and "plantains", based on their intended use as food. thus the banana producer and distributor chiquita produces publicity material for the american market which says that "a plantain is not a banana". the stated differences are that plantains are more starchy and less sweet; they are eaten cooked rather than raw; they have thicker skin, which may be green, yellow or black; and they can be used at any stage of ripeness. linnaeus made the same distinction between plantains and bananas when first naming two "species" of "musa". members of the "plantain subgroup" of banana cultivars, most important as food in west africa and latin america, correspond to the chiquita description, having long pointed fruit. they are described by ploetz et al. as "true" plantains, distinct from other cooking bananas. the cooking bananas of east africa belong to a different group, the east african highland bananas, so would not qualify as "true" plantains on this definition.
banana
in southeast asia – the center of diversity for bananas, both wild and cultivated – the distinction between "bananas" and "plantains" does not work, according to valmayor et al. many bananas are used both raw and cooked. there are starchy cooking bananas which are smaller than those eaten raw. the range of colors, sizes and shapes is far wider than in those grown or sold in africa, europe or the americas. southeast asian languages do not make the distinction between "bananas" and "plantains" that is made in english (and spanish). thus both cavendish cultivars, the classic yellow dessert bananas, and saba cultivars, used mainly for cooking, are called "pisang" in malaysia and indonesia, "kluai" in thailand and "chuoi" in vietnam. fe'i bananas, grown and eaten in the islands of the pacific, are derived from entirely different wild species than traditional bananas and plantains. most fe'i bananas are cooked, but karat bananas, which are short and squat with bright red skins, very different from the usual yellow dessert bananas, are eaten raw.
banana