Dwarf Banana, Edible banana
Musa acuminata

Family: Musaceae

What it is like

Musa acuminata is a PERENNIAL growing to 3 m (9ft 10in). See above for USDA hardiness. It is hardy to UK zone 9 and is frost tender. The species is hermaphrodite (has both male and female organs). Suitable for: light (sandy), medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils and prefers well-drained soil. Suitable pH: mildly acid, neutral and basic (mildly alkaline) soils. It can grow in semi-shade (light woodland) or no shade. It prefers moist soil.

Height (m): 3

Where it is found

Shaded and moist ravines, marshlands, semi-marshlands and slopes from near sea level to 1200 metres.

E. Asia - Southern China, India, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines.

Conservation Status: Cultivated, Ornamental

Countries/locations it is found in

Africa, Asia, Australia, Burma, Central America, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, East Africa, Hawaii, India, Indochina, Laos, Madagascar, Myanmar, Pacific, SE Asia, St Helena, Thailand, USA, Vietnam,

How it is used

Food

Rating: 5

Fruit - raw or dried for later use. A sweet flavour. The fruit is up to 12cm long and 2.5cm wide. The male flowers are eaten raw or roasted and eaten like artichokes. Young shoots - cut finely and added to sauces. The tender core of the stem is eaten as a vegetable, in a similar manner to bamboo shoots. The leaves are occasionally used for wrapping foods.

Medicine

Rating: 2

Unripe fruits are astringent and are eaten as a treatment for diarrhoea. The peel and pulp of ripe bananas contain antifungal, antibiotic and dopamine factors. The ripe banana peel is abortive, and is also used as a salve to ease insect stings and bites. Ashes of the unripe peel and leaves are used as a treatment of dysentery, diarrhea and malignant ulcers. The leaves, dried and made into a syrup, are used in Cuba to treat coughs and chest conditions such as bronchitis. A decoction of the leaves is drunk to treat consumption. Painful urination is treated with juice from the leaves, and dysentery is treated with the leaves. A poultice of the leaves is used to treat burns and other skin ailments. The flowers are cooked as a remedy for bronchitis, dysentery, diabetics and ulcers. The root is strongly astringent and has been used to arrest the coughing up of blood. The roots are used to treat convulsions. A poultice of the roots has been used to treat carbuncles, swellings, digestive disorders and dysentery.. The pith of the suckers is used to treat burns. The stem is used to treat swellings of the armpit and groin and to treat haemorrhoids. An infusion of the stem pulp is used to treat dysentery. The sap is used as a treatment for epilepsy, leprosy, dysentery, diarrhea, and is applied on insect stings and bites.

Antibiotic: An agent that inhibits or destroys a living organism. It usually refers to bacteria or other micro-organisms and is probably synonymous with Antibacterial

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

Antifungal: An agent that inhibits or destroys fungi. Used in the treatment of various fungal problems such as candida.

Antihaemorrhoidal: Treats haemorrhoids (piles). This would probably be best added to another heading.

Antitussive: Prevents or relieves coughing.

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

Digestive: Aids digestion.

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.

Hypoglycaemic: Reduces the levels of sugar in the blood.

Leprosy: Used to treat leprosy - a chronic bacterial infection of the skin and superficial nerves (in the skin) caused by Mycobacterium leprae.

Poultice: A moist, usually warm or hot, mass of plant material applied to the skin in the treatment of burns etc.

Skin: Plants used in miscellaneous treatments for the skin.

Stings: Used in the treatment of stings and insect bites.

Other

Rating: 2

The leaves are used for packing, wrapping and decorative purposes. The leaves and shoots yield a fibre that can be used for making a high-quality cloth. Fibres from the stem are used for making rugs with a silk-like texture Fibres from the bark are used for making paper.

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.

Packing: Used as a filler in boxes etc in order to protect the contents.

Paper: Related to the entry for Fibre, these plants have been specifically mentioned for paper making.

Weaving: Items such as grass and palm leaves that are woven together for making mats, baskets etc. See also Basket making and Fibre.

Agroforestry Services: Crop shade: Plants providing crop shade especially trees.

Global Crop: These crops are already grown or traded around the world. The annual value of each is more than $1 billion US Examples include coconuts, almonds, and bananas.

Industrial Crop: Fiber: Clothing, rugs, sheets, blankets etc. Currently, almost none of our fiber are produced from perennial crops but could be!

Management: Managed Multistem: Regularly removing some multiple stems. A non-A non-destructive management systems maintaining the soil organic carbon.

Other Systems: Dyke-pond: Aquaforestry integrating, fish, livestock and crops.

Other Systems: Homegarden: Tropical multistrata agroforestry (multi-story combinations of trees, crops, domestic animals in the homestead).

Other Systems: Multistrata: Multistrata agroforests feature multiple layers of trees often with herbaceous perennials, annual crops, and livestock.

Staple Crop: Basic Starch: The Carbon Farming Solution. Eric Toensmeier.