Cooking plantain

A plantain, or cooking plantain, (/ˈplæntᵻn/,US /plænˈteɪn/,UK /ˈplɑːntᵻn/) is one of the less sweet cultivated varieties (cultivars) of the genus Musa whose fruit is also known as the banana. Plantains are typically eaten cooked, sometimes along with their leaves and fibers, and are usually large, angular and starchy, in contrast to common or "dessert" bananas, which are typically eaten raw and without the peel, usually being smaller, more rounded and sugary; however, there is no formal scientific distinction between plantains and bananas.

In some countries, there may appear to be a clear distinction between cooking plantains and dessert bananas, but in other countries, where many more cultivars are consumed, the distinction is not made in the common names used there. A subgroup of plantain cultivars may be distinguished as "true" plantains.

All modern plantain cultivars have three sets of chromosomes (i.e. they are triploid). Many are hybrids derived from the cross of two wild species, Musa acuminata and Musa balbisiana. The currently accepted scientific name for all such crosses is Musa × paradisiaca. Using Simmonds and Shepherds' (1955) genome-based nomenclature system, cultivars which are used cooked often belong to the AAB Group, although some, like the East African Highland bananas, belong to the AAA Group, and others, such as Saba bananas, belong to the ABB Group.

Plantain (disambiguation)

Cooking plantain refers to large, angular fruits of the genus Musa (bananas, plantains) that are used in cooking. Other Musa fruit eaten primarily cooked, i.e. East African Highland bananas, are discussed separately.

It may also refer to:

See also

True plantains

"True" plantains are a group of cultivated varieties (cultivars) of the genus Musa (bananas and plantains) placed in the Plantain subgroup of the AAB genome group. The term "plantain" is also used in other senses. It can refer to all the banana cultivars which are normally eaten after cooking, rather than raw, for which see cooking plantain, or to members of some other subgroups of Musa cultivars, such as the Pacific plantains.

True plantains are divided into four groups, based on their bunch type: French, French Horn, False Horn and Horn plantains. Each bunch type has a variety of cultivars associated to it - i.e.:

The old IITA Research Guide for Banana and Plantain contains images of the different inflorescences used to distinguish plantain types.