Bananas, also sometimes called bananas, bananas, ripe or bananas, are one of the most consumed fruits in the world. It is a fruit produced by a large number of species, hybrids and cultivars of the genus Musa. At the economic and food level it is so important that only wheat, rice and corn exceed the production of bananas and bananas worldwide.
If you want to learn more about the different types of bananasJoin us in this interesting article by Green Ecologist.
Types of bananas - list of names
These are some of the most popular types of banana and produced:
- Gros Michel
- Cavendish
- Dwarf or Dominican banana
- Plantain or banana
- Red banana
- Tabasco banana and others
Gros Michel
The history of banana Gros Michel it is that of the disappearance of a whole variety of banana due to the disasters of monoculture. At the beginning of the 20th century, the consumption of this fruit spread and became widely popular in Europe and North America, which caused a large number of countries in Latin America to start growing bananas on large farms.
In 1940 a mushroom named Fusarium oxysporum, which attacked the roots of plants. As some of you may already know, modern bananas do not have seeds, which means that the plant does not reproduce in a sexual way and that, therefore, its genetic variety is very low. This makes it especially vulnerable to certain threats, like this one was.
Twenty years after its arrival, the fungus proved lethal and had wiped out Gros Michel farms across America. It was a variety of small size and great flavor, more intense than those currently marketed.
Cavendish
After the Gros Michel disaster, they found a variety resistant to the fungus. Its flavor was less intense and it was a fruit of greater size and less easy to handle at an industrial level: the Cavendish banana, which eventually prevailed due to its resistance to Fusarium oxysporum. There are currently different Cultivars or types of Cavendish plantain, which are the most consumed in many countries. The best known are the Great Dwarf, the Little Dwarf, the Lacatán, the Valery, the Robusta and the Poyo.
Cavendish bananas can be eaten raw as a dessert or aperitif, without the need to be cooked, and they account for a fairly high percentage of world fruit production. They are yellow when mature, with characteristic brown or black spots.
Recently a variant of the Fusarium oxysporum which attacks Cavendish bananas and, in the absence of effective control methods, this variety may share the fate of Gros Michel.
most of types of bananas from the Canary Islands they belong to this group, specifically four of its five types: Lacatán, Poyo, Great dwarf and Little dwarf. The fifth variety is the Gros Michel that have been managed to continue growing, although in small numbers.
Dominican or dwarf banana
This is the smaller of the types of bananas in Mexico. It is a variety very sweet despite its small size, which is why it is widely used in pastry, confectionery and in the preparation of sweet drinks.
It is very rich in B vitamins, as well as vitamins C and E, as well as having a high magnesium content.
Plantain or banana
To the plantain, usually, it is also called banana, although depending on the region this word is used simply as a synonym for banana. The male plantain is one of large size and weight. Its skin is thick and its pulp is of great consistency, in addition to offering a peculiar and less sweet flavor. It is one of the banana varieties that must be cooked for consumption and this in particular is used in its different stages of the maturation process, both green, yellow or black, depending on the dish or product to be made.
On a nutritional level, it offers a high content of potassium and vitamin A, as well as fiber, manganese and vitamin B6. In general, in Europe it is quite unknown, but in many tropical countries its consumption is widespread.
Red banana
It was already very popular in America, but recently this variety of banana has begun to spread throughout the European continent as well. It's about a thick skinned banana, although the most striking thing about it for the less accustomed is undoubtedly the red or reddish brown color that gives it its name. Nor is his taste left behind, which has raspberry nuances.
The red banana It is a fruit suitable for consumption, both raw and cooked, and the WHO recommends it since, despite being rich in calories, it is also rich in minerals and other nutrients, as well as offering a very low fat content.
Other types of bananas
We also find other banana varieties, As the Tabasco banana or Roatán banana, which gets its name from the state of Mexico that produces it: Tabasco. It is a banana of about 15 cm in length, with yellow skin and without spots when ripe, with a mild flavor. Other names for varieties of bananas are:
- Mysore
- Bluggoe
- Orinoco
- Rhino horn
If you liked discovering these 10 types of bananas, their names, characteristics and photos, you may be interested in knowing the Care of the indoor banana plant.
If you want to read more articles similar to Types of bananas, we recommend that you enter our category of Cultivation and care of plants.
