Log in

View Full Version : Dwarf Brazilian vs Manzano


PR-Giants
03-27-2014, 09:04 AM
Side by Side Taste Test

Apple Flavor

Manzano - Very Strong
Dwarf Brazilian - Mild

Apple Scent

Manzano - Extremely Strong
Dwarf Brazilian - Nonexistent or Undetectable
due to the scent of the Manzano in the air.

Days from Bloom to Harvest

Manzano - 3 & 1/2 months
Dwarf Brazilian - 5 & 1/2 months

Sigatoka

Manzano - Bad
Dwarf Brazilian - Very Bad

In comparison the Manzano was much better, most likely due to the increased height and leaf shape.

Manzano leaves are long and narrow while Dwarf Brazilian leaves are short and wide.

Narnia
03-27-2014, 04:58 PM
Manzano
-what Is The Height Of Pstem
SIZE OF BUNCH?
Are They As Good For Cooking As The D B ?

bananimal
03-27-2014, 05:22 PM
Manzano
-what Is The Height Of Pstem
SIZE OF BUNCH?
Are They As Good For Cooking As The D B ?

Medium tall. Cooking - totally green - shure. As in Gineos en escabeche.

PR-Giants
03-28-2014, 08:31 AM
Medium tall. Cooking - totally green - shure. As in Gineos en escabeche.

Without the "u", I'm thinking Tanqueray. (http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=gin+tanqueray&qpvt=gin+tanqueray&FORM=IGRE)

Manzano
-what Is The Height Of Pstem
SIZE OF BUNCH?
Are They As Good For Cooking As The D B ?

About 12'.

All my Manzanos are feral, so bunches are undersized.

All green bananas I've tried are fairly similar for cooking, girth is usually the difference.

If you like potato chips, you'll love banana chips.

Bananas don't make good tostones, but are great for chips.

I'm sure that in the Caribbean, bags of Banana Chips outsell Potato Chips.

Yesterday I had a bag of Malt Vinegar & Sea Salt Potato Chips and now I want a bottle of Malt Vinegar for my Banana Chips.

http://i979.photobucket.com/albums/ae272/keithpr1/Manzano/Manzanomar24_zps073160cf.jpg (http://s979.photobucket.com/user/keithpr1/media/Manzano/Manzanomar24_zps073160cf.jpg.html)

Julian
03-29-2014, 12:54 PM
I was able to compare the two from my yard. The DB had a stronger apple flavor. I like Manzano, but they had a chalky texture. In my yard, the DBs tasted a lot better, but was still very good.

PR-Giants
03-29-2014, 06:42 PM
I was able to compare the two from my yard. The DB had a stronger apple flavor. I like Manzano, but they had a chalky texture. In my yard, the DBs tasted a lot better, but was still very good.

It's obvious we are both using the same name "Manzano", but are comparing two different bananas that are probably in different subgroups.

Mine ripen quickly, don't split, and have a very strong apple taste & scent.

Yours are different.

The crappy thing is that you have to wait until it splits for them to taste good.

Itʻs a trip how ripe this banana can look, fully yellow and splitting, yet itʻs not ready to eat. It has to feel soft before they taste good.


March 29
Beyond ripe & heading to the compost
http://i979.photobucket.com/albums/ae272/keithpr1/Manzano/Manzanomar29_zps0f31025d.jpg (http://s979.photobucket.com/user/keithpr1/media/Manzano/Manzanomar29_zps0f31025d.jpg.html)


Apple | Promusa - Mobilizing banana science for sustainable livelihoods (http://www.promusa.org/tiki-index.php?page=Apple)

Apple banana is a generic term used to refer to bananas that have a sweet-acid taste reminiscent of apples. It was originally coined for bananas in the Silk subgroup, but has since been used in talking about bananas in the Mysore, Pome and Ney Poovan subgroups. In East Africa, Sukali Ndizi is also referred to as an Apple banana.

University of Florida - Pisang Awak - Appleplantain.

Narnia
03-29-2014, 11:55 PM
I was able to compare the two from my yard. The DB had a stronger apple flavor. I like Manzano, but they had a chalky texture. In my yard, the DBs tasted a lot better, but was still very good.

Have never tasted a Manzano, in Oz, Brazilian is known as Lady Finger. If we want to cook a banana its Brazilian we use ;delicious especially if you dont cut the bunch before you spot one turning yellow.
Sunripened cooked / uncooked full of flavour!
Question does the Dwarf Brazilian tast the same as a Brazilian?

PR-Giants
03-30-2014, 09:10 PM
I was able to compare the two from my yard. The DB had a stronger apple flavor. I like Manzano, but they had a chalky texture. In my yard, the DBs tasted a lot better, but was still very good.

N. W. SIMMONDS -

Brazilian. An AB-type triploid; material introduced
to the I.CT.A. in 1939 proved
to be identical with a variety called Pome
from the Canary Islands. The sometimes
misshapen male bud with a few persistent
bracts just above it is characteristic. The
fruit is subacid and of poor quality; it has
little to recommend it as a dessert banana
(to a West Indian trained taste, at least),
and its acceptance in Hawaii seems to be
a good example of the power of need and
habit in influencing the demands of a market.
It is resistant to Panama disease and
to leaf spot.


Notes on Banana Varieties in Hawaii (http://scholarspace.manoa.hawaii.edu/bitstream/handle/10125/9168/vol8n2-226-229.pdf?sequence=1)

Banana culture in Hawaii (http://www02.us.archive.org/stream/bananacul00wtpo/bananacul00wtpo_djvu.txt)

Banana--Farmer's Bookshelf (http://www.ctahr.hawaii.edu/fb/banana/banana.htm)

venturabananas
03-30-2014, 11:15 PM
Question does the Dwarf Brazilian tast the same as a Brazilian?

Yes, they are indistinguishable by flavor.

venturabananas
03-30-2014, 11:29 PM
It's obvious we are both using the same name "Manzano", but are comparing two different bananas that are probably in different subgroups.

Mine ripen quickly, don't split, and have a very strong apple taste & scent.

Yours are different.


The one Julian mentions in Hawaii is definitely a Silk subgroup banana (I've had them there, too). The Manzano I've had in the Caribbean are definitely Silk subgroup bananas also. They might be different cultivars within the same subgroup, or not. There's something about Hawaii that they just don't do well. They are often chalky, have hard lumps, and split. (Aside from the splitting, the Manzanos you can buy in the mainland US shipped in from Latin America under the Turbana label are also often chalky and lumpy.) Otherwise, the taste of the Hawaiian Manzano and the Caribbean Manzano is the same. I'd disagree with Brazilian tasting more like apples. To me, they have more of a pineapple taste, and Manzano has more of an apple taste. Brazilian is more tart, too. The two are easy to tell apart: bananas in the Silk subgroup have very thin peels when fully ripe, whereas Brazilian/Dwarf Brazilian have thicker peels on par with Cavendish varieties. Keith, you may have a really awesome Silk cultivar (a local mutation?), since I think you mentioned that you have two different ones that are Manzano, and one was better than the other.

keikikid
03-31-2014, 01:38 AM
So... Tiny mystery bananas, two inches, with delightful tartness, earliest hands prone to splitting, thin skin, not robust plants (so far!) may be Silk/Manzano? None of mine have had chalkiness or funky lumps, nor been astringent, and they keep quite well. One of my local friends tells me to stop trying to call the bananas anything but "Good Kine".
But the ID game is an awful lot of fun!

lukem5
03-31-2014, 02:43 AM
But the ID game is an awful lot of fun!

more like just awful

PR-Giants
03-31-2014, 10:19 AM
The one Julian mentions in Hawaii is definitely not a Silk subgroup banana (I've had & grown them here, too).
The different cultivars that are referred to as Manzano in the Caribbean are definitely not all from the same subgroup.

N. W. SIMMONDS -

"Apple (Manzano). This is another unfortunate name,
as it is commonly applied to several AB type varieties having subacid fruits.
In Hawaii it was applied to a variety thought to be the Silk Fig
(of Trinidad, Apple of Jamaica, an AB-type triploid) but sometimes
also to Brazilian, a distinct although not dissimilar variety."

This seems to be a common error worldwide.

Notes on Banana Varieties in Hawaii (http://scholarspace.manoa.hawaii.edu/bitstream/handle/10125/9168/vol8n2-226-229.pdf?sequence=1)


This might seem silly but it's very true...

It's important to include a Silk Manzano, when comparing a cultivar to a Silk Manzano.

After comparing a Silk Manzano to the Manzano you & Julian have described,
homeowners here simply remove it and replace it with a Silk Manzano.

Other members are growing this cultivar, so we'll see... :waving:

Bananas in the Silk subgroup have thin peels when fully green,
on average it's about 1 mm less than Cavendish varieties.


The one Julian mentions in Hawaii is definitely a Silk subgroup banana (I've had them there, too). The Manzano I've had in the Caribbean are definitely Silk subgroup bananas also. They might be different cultivars within the same subgroup, or not. There's something about Hawaii that they just don't do well. They are often chalky, have hard lumps, and split. (Aside from the splitting, the Manzanos you can buy in the mainland US shipped in from Latin America under the Turbana label are also often chalky and lumpy.) Otherwise, the taste of the Hawaiian Manzano and the Caribbean Manzano is the same. I'd disagree with Brazilian tasting more like apples. To me, they have more of a pineapple taste, and Manzano has more of an apple taste. Brazilian is more tart, too. The two are easy to tell apart: bananas in the Silk subgroup have very thin peels when fully ripe, whereas Brazilian/Dwarf Brazilian have thicker peels on par with Cavendish varieties. Keith, you may have a really awesome Silk cultivar (a local mutation?), since I think you mentioned that you have two different ones that are Manzano, and one was better than the other.

venturabananas
03-31-2014, 12:06 PM
The one Julian mentions in Hawaii is definitely not a Silk subgroup banana (I've had & grown them here, too).
The different cultivars that are referred to as Manzano in the Caribbean are definitely not all from the same subgroup.

N. W. SIMMONDS -

"Apple (Manzano). This is another unfortunate name,
as it is commonly applied to several AB type varieties having subacid fruits.
In Hawaii it was applied to a variety thought to be the Silk Fig
(of Trinidad, Apple of Jamaica, an AB-type triploid) but sometimes
also to Brazilian, a distinct although not dissimilar variety."

Notes on Banana Varieties in Hawaii (http://scholarspace.manoa.hawaii.edu/bitstream/handle/10125/9168/vol8n2-226-229.pdf?sequence=1)


It is true that the variety typically sold as "Apple" (not "Manzano") in Hawaii is not a Silk subgroup fruit, it is AAB Pome, Brazilian or Dwarf Brazilian. The one that is sold as "Manzano" is a Silk subgroup fruit. I'm not sure why you think it isn't, Keith. What are the traits that distinguishes what is called "Manzano" in Hawaii (or "Amorosa" or "Latundan" in the Filipino community in Hawaii), from Silk subgroup bananas?

venturabananas
03-31-2014, 12:07 PM
So... Tiny mystery bananas, two inches, with delightful tartness, earliest hands prone to splitting, thin skin, not robust plants (so far!) may be Silk/Manzano? None of mine have had chalkiness or funky lumps, nor been astringent, and they keep quite well. One of my local friends tells me to stop trying to call the bananas anything but "Good Kine".
But the ID game is an awful lot of fun!

Try them when they have some green left on the peel. If they are the typical Silk subgroup "Manzano", they will be astringent and dry your mouth out.

venturabananas
03-31-2014, 01:01 PM
Keith, of the two Manzano varieties you have in PR, the superior one might be what TARS has as "Golden Pillow", which from understanding is a Silk cultivar that is less astringent? Or have you grown Golden Pillow and know it to be different?

keikikid
03-31-2014, 04:54 PM
Try them when they have some green left on the peel. If they are the typical Silk subgroup "Manzano", they will be astringent and dry your mouth out.

Got my homework, now the next bunch needs to ripen. I did have a similar banana from my neighbor that was entirely yellow, separated easily from the hand, and was astringent with texture so nasty I gave it to the dogs. They liked it! His plants are green, mine have a lot of mauve. I'd still be scarred if the fruit on my pretty bananas was that, um, rough!

venturabananas
03-31-2014, 05:34 PM
Got my homework, now the next bunch needs to ripen. I did have a similar banana from my neighbor that was entirely yellow, separated easily from the hand, and was astringent with texture so nasty I gave it to the dogs. They liked it! His plants are green, mine have a lot of mauve. I'd still be scarred if the fruit on my pretty bananas was that, um, rough!

If they are mauve on the underside of young leaves and the fruit looks a lot like Manzano and is a little tart, they're probably Mysore.

keikikid
03-31-2014, 08:15 PM
If they are mauve on the underside of young leaves and the fruit looks a lot like Manzano and is a little tart, they're probably Mysore.

Thank you! They probably all are then. One puzzlement, do Mysore flowers have the jelled nectar in the male flower? Is it a common trait in bananas or, per Kepler & Rust, a signifier of Iholena?

robguz24
03-31-2014, 09:34 PM
Thank you! They probably all are then. One puzzlement, do Mysore flowers have the jelled nectar in the male flower? Is it a common trait in bananas or, per Kepler & Rust, a signifier of Iholena?

It's certainly not exclusive to Iholenas. I get the same in 1000 fingers. I haven't tried with Mysore though.

Julian
04-01-2014, 01:32 AM
I asked Gabe for Manzano, and he gave me Manzano straight from the research center at the University. Gabe has many types of AAB Silk, as seen on his older posts. I believe that he received the majority of his bananas from the Gene Bank.

ITC | Promusa - Mobilizing banana science for sustainable livelihoods (http://www.promusa.org/tiki-index.php?page=ITC)

Gabe even had the name of the variety of fig. Here is Gabeʻs email to me.

FFM= 'Figue Famille' (AAB Silk). Manzano/"True Apple" type. I never fruited it
so can't much about it except that it is typical of Silk's to have fruit which
remains astringent until very-very ripe, they often need to be practically
falling apart before they no longer taste like a green banana, but then they are
really great and sweet fruits.

Julian
04-01-2014, 01:40 AM
Try them when they have some green left on the peel. If they are the typical Silk subgroup "Manzano", they will be astringent and dry your mouth out.

Mine were full yellow, no green and splitting, and you still had to wait till it softened or you end up spitting it out. ASTRINGENT. I did not have any sort of lumpiness.
:08: