Banana
Musa x paradisiaca

Family: Musaceae

What it is like

Banana (Musa x paradisiaca), a hybrid between Musa acuminata and Musa balbisiana, is a perennial, herbaceous plant growing about 8 m in height. It is a staple food with a wide range of medicinal and other uses. The fruits can be eaten raw or cooked. Male inflorescences are used as ingredient in curries. The inner stem can be boiled and eaten, or dried then made into flour. The leaves are used as food wrapper. Medicinally, different plant parts are used in the treatment of diarrhea, epilepsy, headache, cough, bronchitis, dysentery, furuncles, wounds, and swelling. Propagation is through sword suckers.

Musa x paradisiaca is an evergreen Perennial growing to 8 m (26ft) by 4 m (13ft) at a fast rate. See above for USDA hardiness. It is hardy to UK zone 10. The flowers are pollinated by Birds, Bats. It is noted for attracting wildlife. Suitable for: light (sandy), medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils and prefers well-drained soil. Suitable pH: mildly acid and neutral soils and can grow in very acid soils. It cannot grow in the shade. It prefers moist soil. The plant is not wind tolerant.

Height (m): 8

Where it is found

Not known

Only known as a cultivated plant, it is a hybrid of M. Acuminata × M. Balbisiana.

Conservation Status: This taxon has not yet been assessed

Countries/locations it is found in

Africa, Amazon, Andamans, Angola, Antigua & Barbuda, Asia, Australia, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belize, Brazil, Brunei, Burma, Burundi, Cambodia, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Central Africa, Central African Republic, Central America, China, Colombia, Congo, Congo R, Cook Islands, Costa Rica, Côte d'Ivoire, Cuba, Dominica, East Africa, East Timor, Ecuador, Equatorial French Ethiopia, Fiji, Ghana, Grenada, Guadeloupe, Guiana, Guam, Guinea, Guinée, Guatemala, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Haiti, Hawaii, Honduras, India, Indochina, Indonesia, Ivory Coast, Jamaica, Kenya, Kiribati, Laos, Libya, Madagascar, Malawi, Malaysia, Marshall Islands, Martinique, Mexico, Myanmar, Nauru, Nepal, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Niger, Nigeria, North Africa, North America, Pacific, Pakistan, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Peru, Philippines, Rwanda, Samoa, Saudi Arabia, SE Asia, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Solomon Islands, South America, South Sudan, Sri Lanka, St Lucia, Sudan, Suriname, Tahiti, Taiwan, Tanzania, Thailand, Timor-Leste, Tokelau, Tonga, Uganda, USA, Vanuatu, Venezuela, Vietnam, West Africa, Zambia, Zimbabwe,

How it is used

Food

Rating: 5

Fruit - raw or cooked. Dessert forms are sweet and succulent when fully ripe and are widely eaten out of hand, though they are very versatile and are used in a wide variety of other ways. For example, they are commonly used with other juicier fruits to make smoothies, they can be baked, cooked in cakes, dried for later use etc. Plantains are richer in starch and contain less sugars. Whilst these are more commonly cooked as a vegetable, when fully ripe they make a very acceptable raw fruit. Male inflorescences are eaten in curries or cooked with coconut milk. The inner stem can be boiled and eaten, or can be dried and made into a flour and starch. Blanched shoots that sprout from the base can be roasted and eaten. The leaves are commonly used for wrapping foods that are to be cooked - especially glutinous rice dishes. They impart a distinctive flavour and a greenish colour. Nectar of the flowers is consumed. The ashes of the plant can be used as a salt substitute.

Stem: this often intergrades into leaves.

Drink: not including plant saps, tea or coffee substitutes.

Salt: plants that provide a substitute for salt.

Medicine

Rating: 2

The unripe fruits and their sap are astringent and haemostatic. They are eaten, often roasted, as a treatment for diarrhoea. The fruit is used to treat epilepsy. The peeled and sliced fruit is placed on the forehead to relieve the heat of a headache. The peel of the fruit is considered an abortive. The leaves, dried and made into a syrup, are used to treat coughs and chest conditions such as bronchitis. An infusion of the banana leaf, combined with sugarcane roots, is used to hasten childbirth. The leaves are applied as a vesicant on blistering. It is tied onto the forehead to relieve a headache. The pulp of the trunk is made into an infusion to soothe dysentery. A liquid collected at a cut stem is an antiseptic that is applied to furuncles and wounds. The root is strongly astringent and has been used to arrest the coughing up of blood. Applied externally, the juice of the root is used to treat carbuncles and swellings. The flowers are astringent. The fruit contains two vasoconstrictors: norepinephrine (a chemical used to raise blood pressure) and dopamine. Norepinephrine is good for a weak heart. The fruit is also rich in vitamin A. Sap of the fruit contains serothine, which has an action on the long muscles.

Antidiarrhoeal: Provides symptomatic relief for diarrhoea. Also see Astringent.

Antitussive: Prevents or relieves coughing.

Astringent: Produces contraction in living tissue, reducing the flow of secretions and discharges of blood, mucus, diarrhoea etc.

Dysentery: Used in treating dysentery - an infection of the intestines that causes diarrhoea containing blood or mucus.

Epilepsy: Used in the treatment of Epilepsy - a disorder in which nerve cell activity in the brain is disturbed, causing seizures.

Haemostatic: Controls internal bleeding.

Skin: Plants used in miscellaneous treatments for the skin.

Vesicant: A blistering agent.

Other

Rating: 2

Other Uses The large leaves are used as plates for eating food. The leaf sheath is used as a temporary binding. The juice of the roots is used as a hair tonic.

Containers: Plants, such as gourds, that can be used as containers. Does not include baskets or containers made from wood.

Fibre: Used for making cloth, rope, paper etc.

Hair: Plants used as hair shampoos, tonics, to treat balding etc.

String: Plants that can be used for string or can be easily made into a string. See also Fibre. Plants for ropes may be included.

Food Forest: Plants for Edible Forest Gardens and Food Forests.

How it is grown

The optimal temperature for fruit production is about 27°c, and night time temperatures should not fall much below 18°c when the fruit is ripening or flavour can be impaired. Requires a sunny sheltered position in a well-drained fertile soil with a pH between 6 and 7.5. There are very many named varieties, but two main types can be distinguished: Dessert bananas which become very sweet when fully ripe. Plantains, which contain more carbohydrate and are more commonly cooked.

Propagating it: Seed - sow the large seed in individual pots in the spring in a warm greenhouse at about 20°c. Grow the seedlings on in a rich soil, giving occasional liquid feeds. Keep the plants in the greenhouse for at least three years before trying them outdoors. Division of suckers in late spring. Dig up the suckers with care, trying to cause the least disturbance to the main plant. Pot them up and grow them on in a lightly shaded position in a greenhouse until they are well established.

Best place to grow:

Habit: Perennial

Hardiness: 10-12

Growth: Fast

Soil: Light (sandy), medium, heavy (clay)

Shade: No shade

Moisture: Moist

Things to keep in mind

Its other names

Local names

Banana, Amenvu, Cheek nam' vaa, Chuoi, Guineo, Hakua, Hopa, It'ath, Jaina, Kawadar, Keepran, Kele, Kera, Kluai, Kwayz, Leka, Maika, Meika, Mgomba, Moni, Ndizi, Nget pyo thee, Peint, Pinana, Pisang, Platano, Saging, Sou, Te banana, Te bunti, Te oraora, Uchu, Uht, Usr, Vudi, bananenbaum, bananier, ess-banane, paradise banana, plantain, plátano.

Synonyms

Karkandela × malabarica Raf. Musa × acutibracteata M.Hotta, Musa × alphurica Miq. Musa × aphurica Ru