venturabananas

There are two main cultivars of smaller ("ladyfinger") dessert bananas commonly available on the island of Moorea, next to Tahiti in French Polynesia. They are called "rio" and "rimama" in Tahitian. Does anybody know any more common names for these cultivars or the subgroups they are in?

From what I can tell from "Banana and plantain—an overview with emphasis on Pacific island cultivars" by Ploetz et al. (2007), "rio" is a Pome cultivar. But I can't figure out what "rimama" is. Any ideas? The fruits of this one look and taste a lot like manzano, but I'm not sure if they are, or even if they are a Silk cultivar.

__________________

Gabe15

I found similar informarion, 'Rio' is 'Brazilian' (or close to it), but couldn't find any info on a 'Rimama', however I did find a 'Rimarima', but cannot find any subgroup info on it or anything else. However, from the photos and lack of notes, it looks to be something that was brought in more recently, and not a traditional banana cultivar.

__________________
Growing bananas in Colorado, Washington, Hawaii since 2004. Commercial banana farmer, 200+ varieties.

venturabananas

I guess it could be a different spelling: rimama vs. rimarima. My Tahitian friend tells me that "rimama" translates to "finger". I'm guessing it is just the Tahitian equivalent of the name "ladyfinger", which we know is applied to all different cultivars.

__________________

Gabe15

I found a reference to 'Rimarima' being synonymous with 'Mysore'. So neither of them are Silk's, or related to 'Manzano'.

__________________
Growing bananas in Colorado, Washington, Hawaii since 2004. Commercial banana farmer, 200+ varieties.

venturabananas

Well, "rimama" could certainly be Mysore based on the size and shape the fruit. They are quite astringent when green at all, which I had always associated with Manzano, but maybe that characteristic is also true of Mysore. I wouldn't know personally. Anyone?

__________________

merce3

bumping this back up from the dead.

i just tried what i am sure is mysore and got the astringent taste more typical of manzano. there was only slight greenness at the tip, but it was very dry and astringent, but i could still taste an apple undertone. i ate the whole thing, but it almost wasn't palatable.




i can take a picture of the bunch later.

__________________

venturabananas

With hindsight, now having eaten many Silk, Pome, and Mysore bananas since my original post, the bananas I used to have in Moorea were definitely a Silk (e.g., Manzano) cultivar. Although Mysore can be quite sour and somewhat astringent when not fully yellow-ripe, it can't match that dry-your-mouth-out experience of eating an underripe Manzano!

__________________