Banana Banana A banana is an edible fruit – botanically a berry – produced by several kinds of large herbaceous flowering plants in the genus "Musa". In some countries, bananas used for cooking may be called "plantains", distinguishing them from dessert bananas. The fruit is variable in size, color, and firmness, but is usually elongated and curved, with soft flesh rich in starch covered with a rind, which may be green, yellow, red, purple, or brown when ripe. The fruits grow in clusters hanging from the top of the plant. Almost all modern edible seedless (parthenocarp) bananas come from two wild
Saba banana plants and shade trees for their large size and showy coloration. In comparison to most other types of cooking bananas, saba bananas are highly resistant to black sigatoka ("Mycosphaerella fifiensis") and are more tolerant of drought conditions and soil nutrient deficiencies. As such, they are viewed as a possible source for breeding new hybrid cultivars to replace more susceptible cooking banana cultivars grown today (in particular, the threatened East African Highland bananas). Saba banana Saba banana is a triploid hybrid (ABB) banana cultivar originating from the Philippines. It is primarily a cooking banana, though it can also be eaten raw.