BANANA – Common Varieties

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Native to the Indo-Malesian, Asian, and Australian tropics, banana and plantain are now found throughout the tropics and subtropics. The domestication of bananas took place in southeastern Asia. Many species of wild bananas still occur in New Guinea, Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines. Recent archaeological and palaeoenvironmental evidence at Kuk Swamp in the Western Highlands Province of Papua New Guinea suggests that banana cultivation there goes back to at least 5000 BC, and possibly to 8000 BC. Bananas are likely to have been first domesticated in Papua New Guinea.[1] It is likely that other species of wild bananas were later also domesticated elsewhere in southeastern Asia.

The banana is mentioned for the first time in written history in Buddhist texts in 600 BC. Alexander the Great discovered the taste of the banana in the valleys of India in 327 BC. The existence of an organized banana plantation could be found in China in 200 AD. In 650 AD, Islamic conquerors brought the banana to Palestine. Arab merchants eventually spread bananas over much of Africa. The word banana is of West African origin, and passed into English via Spanish or Portuguese.

In 15th and 16th century, Portuguese colonists started banana plantations in the Atlantic Islands, Brazil, and western Africa. As late as the Victorian Era, bananas were not widely known in Europe, although they were available via merchant trade. Jules Verne references bananas with detailed descriptions so as not to confuse readers in his book Around the World in Eighty Days (1872). Today, they are cultivated throughout the tropics

The Cavendish subgroup includes several important bananas:

a) The ‘Dwarf Cavendish’ (Musa accuminata), first known from China and widely cultivated especially in the Canary Islands, East Africa and South Africa. The plant is from 1.2-2.1 m tall, with broad leaves on short petioles. Because of its size, it is hardy and wind resistant. The fruit is of medium size, of good quality fruit typical of those in the supermarket, but thin-skinned and must be handled and shipped with care. This cultivar is easily recognized because the male bracts and flowers are not shed.

b) The ‘Giant Cavendish’, also known as ‘Mons Mari, ‘Williams’, ‘Williams Hybrid’, or ‘Grand Naine’, is of uncertain origin, closely resembles the ‘Gros Michel’, and has replaced the ‘Dwarf’ in Colombia, Australia, Martinique, in many Hawaiian plantations, and to some extent in Ecuador. It is the commercial banana of Taiwan.
The plant reaches 2.7-4.9 m. The pseudo-stem is splashed with dark brown, the bunch is long and cylindrical, and the fruits are larger than those of the ‘Dwarf’ and not as delicate. Male bracts and flowers are shed, leaving a space between the fruits and the terminal bud.

c) ‘Pisang masak hijau’, or ‘Bungulan’, the triploid Cavendish clone of the Philippines, Indonesia and Malaya, is erroneously called ‘Lacatan’ in Jamaica where it replaces ‘Gros Michel’ because of its immunity to Panama disease, though it is subject to Sigatoka (leaf spot). The plant is tall and slender and prone to wind injury. Its fruits ripen unevenly in winter, bruise easily and are inclined to spoil in storage. It is no longer grown commercially in Jamaica and the Windward Islands. The fruits are commonly used as cooking bananas in Jamaican households. Simmonds declares this cultivar is not the true ‘Lakatan’ of the Philippines. He suggested that ‘Pisang masak hijau’ may have been the primary source of all the members of the Cavendish group.

d) ‘Robusta’, very similar to the so-called ‘Lakatan’, has largely replaced that cultivar in Jamaica and the Windward Islands and the ‘Gros Michel’ in Central America because it is shorter, thick-stemmed, less subject to wind. It is being grown commercially also in Brazil, eastern Australia, Samoa and Fiji. It is resistant to Panama disease but prone to Sigatoka.

e) ‘Valery’, also a triploid Cavendish clone, closely resembles ‘Robusta’ and some believe it may be the same. However, it is being grown as a successor to ‘Robusta’. It is already more widely cultivated than ‘Lacatan’ for export. As compared with other clones in cooking trials, it has low ratings because cooking hardens the flesh and gives it a waxy texture. The Banana Breeding Research Scheme in Jamaica has developed a number of tetraploid banana clones with superior disease-resistance and some are equal in dessert quality to the so-called ‘Lacatan’ and ‘Valery’.

f) ‘I.C. 2’, or ‘Golden Beauty’ banana (bred at the Imperial College of Tropical Agriculture in Trinidad in 1928 by crossing the ‘Gros Michel’ with a wild Musa acuminate) is resistant to Panama disease and very resistant to Sigatoka. Though the bunches are small and the fruits short, they ship and ripen well and this cultivar is grown for export in Honduras and has been planted in Hawaii, Samoa and Fiji.

g) ‘Mysore’, also known as ‘Fillbasket’ and ‘Poovan’, is the most important banana type of India, constituting 70% of the total crop. It is sparingly grown in Malaya, Thailand, Ceylon and Burma. It is thought to have been introduced into Dominice in 1900 but the only place where it is of any importance in the New World is Trinidad where it is cultivated as shade for cacao. The plant is large and vigorous, immune to Panama disease and nearly so to Sigatoka; very hardy and drought tolerant. It bears a large compact bunch of medium sized, plump, thin skinned, attractive, bright yellow fruits of sub-acid flavor.

Other prominent commercial cultivars are ‘Salembale’ and ‘Rasabale’, not suitable for canning because of starchy taste and weak flavor. ‘Pachabale’ and ‘Chandrabale’ are important local varieties preferred for canning. K.C. Naik described 34 cultivars as the more important among the many grown in South India.

Trials of 5 clones of ‘Giant Cavendish’ and 9 other cultivars (‘Robusta A’, ‘Robusta B’, ‘Cocos A’, ‘Cocos B’, ‘Golden Beauty’, ‘Enano Nautia’, ‘Enano Gigante’, ‘Enano’ and ‘Valery’) were made between 1976 and 1979 at the Campo Agricola Experimental at Tecoman, Mexico. ‘Enano Gigante’ is the most widely grown cultivar in that region but the tests showed that ‘Enano Nautia’ and ‘Golden Beauty’ bore heavier bunches of better quality fruit, even though ‘Enano Gigante’ had a greater number of bunches and highest yield per ground area. ‘Giant Cavendish’ clones 1, 2, 3 and 4, and ‘Cocos B’ grew very tall, gave low yields and the fruit was of poor quality.

There are a variety of different types of bananas including Manzanon, baby, red and Cavendish bananas. Manzanons are smaller bananas that are usually dark in color, often black. The baby bananas are the smallest and are usually sold in large bunches. Red bananas contain a high amount of beta carotene, and as the name states, they have a red peel and a light red fruit inside. The Cavendish is the most popular banana in the United States and is the typical banana that we consume.There are numerous named varieties and several unnamed types. For purely ornamental use, both unnamed seedy types and named varieties will suffice. Most are tall-growing and have green leaves, but ‘Dwarf Cavendish’ only reaches about 6 feet in height, and there is a mottled or splotchy red-leafed ornamental which can sometimes be located in the nursery trade. From the standpoint of fruit production, ‘Orinoco’ or ‘Horse’ banana has a coarse-looking fruit about 6 inches long by 2 inches in diameter that is primarily used in cooking.

a) ‘Lady Finger’ is a standard-size plant which bears thin-skinned fruit about 1 inch in diameter and 4 inches in length. Its flavor is superior to supermarket bananas.

b) ‘Apple’ or ‘Manzana’ is very similar to ‘Lady Finger’ in all respects except that its fruit imparts an aftertaste very much like the taste of a fresh apple.

c) ‘Bluggoe’ (with many other local names) is a cooking banana especially resistant to Panama disease and Sigatoka. It bears a few distinctly separated hands of large, almost straight, starchy fruits, and is of great importance in Burma, Thailand, southern India, East Africa, the
Philippines, Samoa, and Grenada.

d) ‘Ice Cream’ banana of Hawaii (‘Cenizo’ of Central America and the West Indies; ‘Krie’ of the Philippines), is a relative of ‘Bluggoe’. The plant grows to 3-4.5 m, the leaf midrib is light pink, the flower stalk may be several feet long, but the bunch has only 7 to 9 hands. The fruit is17.5 22.8 cm long, up to 6.25 cm thick, 4-to 5-angled, bluish with a silvery bloom when young, pale yellow when ripe, The flesh is white, sweetish, and is eaten raw or cooked.

e) ‘Silk’, ‘Silk Fig’, or ‘Apple’ (‘Manzana’ in Spanish), is the most popular dessert banana of the tropics. It is widely distributed around the tropics and subtropics but never grown on a large scale. The plant is 3-3.6m tall, only medium in vigor, very resistant to Sigatoka but prone to Panama disease. There are only 6 to 12 hands in the bunch, each with 16 to 18 fruits. The plump bananas are 10-15 cm long, slightly curved; astringent when unripe but pleasantly sub-acid when fully ripe; and apple scented. If left on the bunch until fully developed, the thin skin splits lengthwise and breaks at the stem end causing the fruit to fall, but it is firm and keeps well on hand in the home.

f) ‘Red’, ‘Red Spanish’, ‘Red Cuban’, ‘Colorado’, or ‘Lal Kela’ banana may have originated in India, where it is frequently grown, and it has been introduced into all banana growing regions. The plant is large, takes 18 months from planting to harvest. It is highly resistant to disease. The pseudo-stem, petiole, midrib and fruit peel are all purplish red, but the latter turns to orange yellow when the fruit is fully ripe. The bunch is compact, may contain over 100 fruits of medium size, with thick peel, and flesh of strong flavor. In the mutant called ‘Green Red’, the plant is variegated green and red, becomes 8.5 m tall with pseudo-stem to 45 cm thick at the base. The bunch bears 4 to 7 hands, the fruits are thick, 12.5 17.5 cm long. The purplish-red peel changes to orange-yellow and the flesh is firm, cream-colored and of good quality.

g) ‘Fehi’ or ‘Fe’i’ group, of Polynesia, is distinguished by the erect bunches and the purplish-red or reddish-yellow sap of the plants which has been used as ink and for dyeing. The plants may reach 10.9 m and the leaves are 50-75 cm wide. The fruit bunches have about 6 hands of orange or copper-colored, thick skinned fruits which are starchy, sometimes seedy, of good flavor when boiled or roasted. These plants are often grown as ornamentals in Hawaii.

h) ‘Orinoco’, ‘Horse’, ‘Hog’, or ‘Burro’, banana, a medium tall, sturdy plant, is particularly hardy. The fruit bunches consist of only a few hands of very thick, 3 angled fruits about 15 cm long. The flesh has a salmon tint, is firm, edible raw when fully ripe but much better cooked fried, baked or otherwise, as are plantains.

Among the plantains, there are many forms, some with pink, red or dark-brown leaf sheaths, a few also having colored midribs or splotches on leaves or fruits. The plants are usually large, vigorous and resistant to Panama disease and Sigatoka but attacked by borers. Major subgroups are known as ‘French plantain’ and ‘Horn plantain’, the former with persistent male flowers. The usually large, angled fruits are borne in few hands. All are important sources of food in southern India, East Africa, tropical America and the West Indies. The tall i)

i) ‘Maricongo’ and the ‘Common Dwarf’ are leading commercial cultivars. A dwarf mutant is the ‘Plantano enano of Puerto Rico (‘banane cochon’ of Haiti). Ordinary plantains are called ‘cuadrado’, ‘chato’, and ‘topocho’ in Mexico. The leading commercial cultivars are ‘Pelipita’ and ‘Saba’ which are resistant to Black Sigatoka but they do not have the high culinary quality of ‘Harton’, ‘Dominico-Harton’, ‘Currare’, and ‘Horn’. ‘Laknau’ is a fertile plantain that resembles ‘Horn’ but is of inferior quality. It has opened up possibilities for hybridizing and is being crossed with ‘Pelipita’ and ‘Saba’.

Plantains are cooking bananas, but they apparently are not available in South Texas. Other varieties which may be found in the nursery trade include ‘Cavendish’, ‘Ice Cream’ and others. Banana and plantain cultivars most often grown in Florida are the ‘Dwarf Cavendish’, ‘Apple’, and ‘Orinoco’ bananas and the ‘Macho’ plantain. The ‘Red’ and ‘Lady Finger’ bananas are very occasionally grown in sheltered locations.

There are five major collections of banana and plantain clones in the world. United Brands maintains a collection of 470 cultivars and 100 species at La Lima, Honduras.

COUNTRY	COMMON NAMES	NAME OF CULTIVAR
United States of America		‘Gros Michel’‘MonsMari”Williams”Williams Hybrid”Grand Nain’
Indonesia	Popular Local Dessert CultivarGroup AAPisang MasPisang LampungGroup AAAPisang Ambon PutihPisang Ambon LumutPisang BadakPisang Ambon JepangPisang Raja Sereh Cooking Banana Group AAB Pisang Raja Bulu Pisang Raja Uli Pisang Tanduk Pisang Nangka Pisang Siem Group ABB Pisang Kepok Group AA Pisang Kepas
Malaysia	Popular Local Dessert CultivarGroup AAAPisang EmbunPisang BeranganGroup AABPisang RastaliGroup AAPisang MasCooking BananaGroup AAB Pisang Tanduk Pisang Raja Group AAA Pisang Nangka Group ABB Pisang Awak Pisang Abu
Philippines	For export tradeGroup AAACavendishFor local marketGroup AAABungulanGroup BBBSabaGroup AALakatan Senorita Group AAB Latundan
Thailand	Commercial cultivarsGroup ABBKhai NamwaGroup AAAKluai Hom ThongGroup AAKluai Khai
Hawaii		Group Cavendish‘Williams’, ‘Valery’, ‘Hamakua’,‘Grand Nain’, and ‘Chinese’Group BrazillianBluefields’, ‘Dwarf Bluefields’,’Dwarf Brazilian’

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