View Full Version : Small and fat but what is it?
Bermy nana
08-31-2010, 11:04 PM
Hi
Please help me identify this banana. It is growing in Bermuda. The tree is 10 - 15 ft high with green leaves and a slight red edge on the stalk. The bananas are short, fat and split when they turn yellow. The fruit tastes sweet but is slightly chalky.
Thanks
http://www.bananas.org/gallery/watermark.php?file=36201&size=1 (http://www.bananas.org/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=36201&perpage=12&sort=2&ppuser=8196)
Gabe15
08-31-2010, 11:14 PM
They sound and look like 'Manzano' (AAB Silk subgroup), although it likely has a completely different local name. That skin splitting and chalkyness is very characteristic of this group, and some of these cultivars need to be really extra ripe before the chalkyness goes away, the skin splitting is not even enough of a sign, they need to start getting spots and turning black sometimes in order to taste fully ripe.
Bermy nana
08-31-2010, 11:17 PM
Thanks Gabe. I will let them ripen a bit more and try them when I see some spots.
James
DoctorSteve
09-01-2010, 02:37 PM
That skin splitting and chalkyness is very characteristic of this group, and some of these cultivars need to be really extra ripe before the chalkyness goes away, the skin splitting is not even enough of a sign, they need to start getting spots and turning black sometimes in order to taste fully ripe.
I have tried some manzano after I saw some in Berkeley for sale. They felt ripe so I opened one up took a bit and it was if I just filled my mouth with starch, it was like antiperspirant in my mouth it was so dry. I think the chalkiness you are talking about is the starch in the banana. The enzymes need to break down the starch into sugars so just give it a little time. Let them get very ripe, I ate mine in stages of ripeness, lots of brown is good if it is a manzano.
hydroid
09-03-2010, 12:52 PM
Hey Bermy nana, I arrived here in BDA about 2 weeks ago and took some photos and started a thread: Bananas in Bermuda. So far it looks like Dwarf Cavendish and Orinoco. They are posted in membes galleries. I am down by Somerset Drawbridge and had a local guy give me a small bunch of the Cavendish that are green. I am waiting for them to ripen. Hope this helps
Bo
Bermy nana
09-03-2010, 04:24 PM
Hi Hydroid
I have lived in Bermuda all my life and eaten local bananas given to me by friends and family. Six years ago we built our own house and I planted some pups. My first bunch of Manzanos I thought were cooking bananas since they were so starchy but now I have more info on them I know better than to eat them yellow. They are just starting to become sweet, flavourful and creamy. I also have some other bananas which I think are Dwarf Cavendish (very common in Bermuda from what I read).
The Royal Gazette (http://www.royalgazette.com/rg/Article/article.jsp?articleId=7c85e8f30030003§ionId=80)
I'll send you a private message about getting together.
James
momoese
09-03-2010, 04:46 PM
As for fruits with thin skins that split while ripening I've found that separating all the hands from the peduncle helps to stop the splitting, that is if the bunch has been picked right when you see the first sign of yellow.
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