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 an economic and food level it is so important that only wheat, rice and corn surpass the production of bananas and bananas worldwide.
If you want to learn more about the different types of bananas , join us in this interesting article.
Types of bananas – list of names
These are some of the most popular and produced types of bananas :
- Gros Michel
- Cavendish
- Dwarf or Dominican banana
- Plantain or banana
- Red banana
- Tabasco banana and others
Gros Michel
The history of the Gros Michel banana is that of the disappearance of an entire 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 fungus named Fusarium oxysporum arrived in Panama , attacking 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 sexually 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 larger fruit and less easy to handle at an industrial level: the Cavendish banana, which ended up being imposed due to its resistance to Fusarium oxysporum . Currently there are different cultivars or types of Cavendish banana , 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.
A variant of Fusarium oxysporum has recently been discovered that attacks Cavendish bananas and, in the absence of effective control methods, this variety may share the fate of Gros Michel.
Most types of bananas in the Canary Islands belong to this group, specifically four of its five types: Lacatán, Poyo, Great dwarf and Little dwarf. The fifth variety are the Gros Michel that have been managed to continue growing, although in small numbers.
Dominican or dwarf banana
This is the smallest of the types of bananas in Mexico . It is a very sweet variety 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
The male plantain is usually also called banana , although depending on the region this word is simply used as a synonym for plantain. The male banana is one of great 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 varieties of banana that must be cooked for consumption and this one in particular is used in its different stages of the ripening process, both green, yellow or black, depending on the dish or product to be made.
Nutritionally, 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 is 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 its taste left behind, which has raspberry nuances .
The red banana 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, in addition to offering a very low content in fats.
Other types of bananas
We also find other varieties of banana , such 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
