Heater

Sorry for the rookie-ness of the question...

When they say a specific banana variety (basjoo, for example) is "inedible," does that mean that it tastes very bad or that it's poisonous or what exactly?

magicgreen

Well some are full of seeds.

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(Started growing bananas July 2007)
(Zone 6)

Heater

So is the meat of the banana edible, but it's too hard to pick out the seeds?

Bananaman88

Most listed as inedible are normally termed "ornamental" as well. You can usually assume that this means, as Lynn stated, that they are full of seeds or, as is the case with some of the ornamental types, that the fruit stays very small and dry with no flesh to speak of. Thus the term inedible!

Richard

Be sure to introduce yourself in the member introduction forum: Member Introductions, Social Announcements & Good Wishes - Bananas.org

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Back in business at plantsthatproduce.com

Heater

Great! So I won't die if I try to eat one that is deemed "inedible", correct?

Whew. I was worried. I have a couple of banana trees in the yard that I don't know what variety they are so I was afriad to try them. (They are not blooming yet or anything...I just like to plan ahead)

bencelest

It is not going to poison you or anything. Itwill just taste Bleahhh! (lol)

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Banana Nut

Chironex

Thanks for asking the question Heater. Sometimes what seems to be a rookie question, is actually good for everyone. I learn all the time, the old posts here are so valuable, too.

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Scot

chong

According to Asacomm, the fruit of the Basjoo is actually sweet. But the pulp section is probably 60% seeds by volume.

We have a seeded variety of banana in the Philippines called "Butuan", that is seeded, but only 20-25% seeds, maybe even les. It is very sweet, though not very popular for the fruit. It is grown mainly for the p-stem core and the blossom that are used in cooking. The emerging flower is prized because it has no acrid taste. There are other small and tiny seeded varieties, and some with no seeds, but the fruit is acrid.

TracyWV

As you can see by the previous replies, there are many bananas that are labled as not edible for different reasons. I have seen many different sources label the same banana as edible that others lable as not edible. Sometimes they are specific like they may tell you that the pulp is sweet but full of seeds. Sometimes there is no or very little pulp to be worth trying to eat. Sometimes the pulp is hard or fiberous and stringy. Sometimes it tastes bad, or is very starchy. Some bananas are only good when they are very very ripe. Some are good only for cooking when not ripe or when not very ripe but when very ripe are sweet enough to eat as a dessert banana. You just have to test them out. You can also eat banana flowers from some cultivars, but some don't taste so good. You also can eat banana leaves. They have many uses in cooking and food preparation. You can't have a really good pig roast without them and they make good tamales. I like chicken stuffed with herbs and bread crumbs wrapped in banana leaves and roasted in the pit. I haven't tried eating Ensete corms yet but they seem to like them in Africa. Don't be afraid to experiment. If you don't mind spitting out seeds many bananas labled inedible are quite good and some are quite good only after you let them ripen 'til the skin turns black.

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Tracy