Plantain Banana

Taste and Aroma: A mild flavor, similar to a squash, the flesh of this banana contains less sugar but more starch than other varieties. It is a close relative of banana, looks like banana, but bigger, longer, has thicker skin and often needs to be cooked before eaten.

They are starchy, not sweet, and they are used as a vegetable in many recipes, especially in Latin America and Africa. Plantains are longer than bananas and they have thicker skins. They also have natural brown spots and rough areas.

Origin: The plant is believed to have originated in Southeast Asia. Two groups of plantains are thought to have a common origin: the horn plantain and the French plantain. Both types grow in India, Africa, Egypt, and tropical America. The French plantains also occur in Indonesia and the islands of the Pacific. Plantain is also a common name for plants of the genus Plantago (q.v.) of the order Scrophulariales.

History: Plantain found its way into Madagascar from Malaysia and India through trading Asian merchants and by Arabs during the Trans-Saharan trade boom. At about 327 B.C. Alexander the Great during his world conquest came in contact with this fruit and introduced it into Europe.
Plantain is still a major and popular staple meal across Uganda and the rest of the former Bantu region.

The history of banana and plantain in the Caribbean has also been traced to the activities of the Portuguese Franciscan Monk who introduced it to the Caribbean island of Santo Domingo in the 1516, having himself come in contact with this fruit in the Canary island, brought there by his compatriots about a hundred years earlier.

Nutrition Fact:

• Highly Nutritious
• Good Source of Potassium and
• Vitamins A & C
• High in Dietary Fiber
• Energy Booster -
• High in carbohydrates