View Full Version : Banana 101
momoese
09-12-2005, 03:37 PM
Are the non seeding bananas we eat hybrids? If so, which Bananas are heirlooms?
momoese
09-12-2005, 10:14 PM
So am I asking a really stupid question or what? Are the only "heirloom" bananas ornamental? Are there heirloom edibles even though they have no seeds? :confused:
GATrops
09-13-2005, 07:30 AM
Mitchel-I take a stab at your question. The non-seeded bananas that we eat are natural mutations (that do not produce viable seeds) from some seeded species that occured along the way. The bananas and plantains that are grown today are "hybrids" derived from 2 seeded species, Musa acuminata and Musa balbisiana. These are give the labels "A" and "B", respectively. The seedlesss bananas and plantains that we enjoy are composed of various combinations of these 2 species. There are groups of bananas that are known as "AA", "AAA", "AAAA", "AB", "AAB", "ABB", "BBB", "AAAB" and a others. Some of the members of these groups are:
AAA-Gran Nain, Cavendish
AAAA-SH 3436
AAB-French Plantains, Mysore, Pisang Raja
ABB-Orinoco, Pelipeta
AAAB-Golfinger (FHIA-1)
BBB-Saba
There is a good description of this in several locations but one I really like is found in "Bananas and Plantain" by J.C.Robinson, published by CAB International in 1996. It also has a lot of really good info about fertilization, irrigation, etc. about bananas. It is in my opinion the best all-around banana growing book out there.
I hope this helps and I am sure our fellow board members will correct any mistakes in my post.
Richard
momoese
09-13-2005, 08:29 AM
Thanks Richard, that was exactly what I wanted to know. Now I'll have to acquire a copy of that J.C. Robinson book and do some studying!
TimChapman
09-13-2005, 09:19 AM
the term heirloom isn't really used with bananas, but if you apply it the same way you would with vegetables, almost all of the hundreds of edible cultivars in the world are heirlooms, and the rest of the edibles are the results of new breeding projects like the FHIA series you may see listed.
Tim Chapman
Bananavilla
09-13-2005, 09:48 AM
Tim, your meaning that varieties such as "Cavendish" and "Ice Cream" are naturally occuring hybrids and not till more recently with the FHIA's and some others have there been "man made" hybrids?
Mike
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