Red banana
Encyclopedia
Red bananas, also known as Red Dacca bananas in Australia
, are a variety of banana
with reddish-purple skin. They are smaller and plumper than the common Cavendish banana
. When ripe, raw red bananas have a flesh that is cream to light pink in color. They are also softer and sweeter than the yellow Cavendish varieties, with a slight raspberry-banana flavor. Many red bananas are imported from producers in Asia and South America. They are a favorite in Central America
but are sold throughout the world.
of the wild banana Musa acuminata
, belonging to the Cavendish group (AAA).
Its official designation is Musa acuminata Colla (AAA Group) cv. 'Red Dacca'.
Synonyms
include:
It is known in English
as Red dacca, Red banana, Claret banana, Cavendish banana "Cuban Red", Jamaican red banana, and Red cavendish banana. It is also known under a variety of common names in other countries, including the following:
The first bananas to appear on the market in Toronto (in the 1870s and 1880s) were red bananas. Red bananas are available year round at specialty markets and larger supermarkets in the United States.
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, are a variety of banana
Banana
Banana is the common name for herbaceous plants of the genus Musa and for the fruit they produce. Bananas come in a variety of sizes and colors when ripe, including yellow, purple, and red....
with reddish-purple skin. They are smaller and plumper than the common Cavendish banana
Cavendish banana
The Dwarf Cavendish banana is a banana cultivar originally from Vietnam and China. It became the primary replacement for the Gros Michel banana in the 1950s after crops of the latter were devastated by the Panama disease. The name 'Dwarf Cavendish' is in reference to the height of the pseudostem,...
. When ripe, raw red bananas have a flesh that is cream to light pink in color. They are also softer and sweeter than the yellow Cavendish varieties, with a slight raspberry-banana flavor. Many red bananas are imported from producers in Asia and South America. They are a favorite in Central America
Central America
Central America is the central geographic region of the Americas. It is the southernmost, isthmian portion of the North American continent, which connects with South America on the southeast. When considered part of the unified continental model, it is considered a subcontinent...
but are sold throughout the world.
Taxonomy and nomenclature
The Red banana is a triploid cultivarCultivar
A cultivar'Cultivar has two meanings as explained under Formal definition. When used in reference to a taxon, the word does not apply to an individual plant but to all those plants sharing the unique characteristics that define the cultivar. is a plant or group of plants selected for desirable...
of the wild banana Musa acuminata
Musa acuminata
Musa acuminata is a species of wild banana native to Southeast Asia. It is the progenitor of modern edible bananas, along with Musa balbisiana. First cultivated by humans around 8000 years ago, it is one of the earliest examples of domesticated plants.-Taxonomy and nomenclature:Musa acuminata...
, belonging to the Cavendish group (AAA).
Its official designation is Musa acuminata Colla (AAA Group) cv. 'Red Dacca'.
Synonyms
Synonym (taxonomy)
In scientific nomenclature, a synonym is a scientific name that is or was used for a taxon of organisms that also goes by a different scientific name. For example, Linnaeus was the first to give a scientific name to the Norway spruce, which he called Pinus abies...
include:
- Musa acuminata Colla (AAA Group) cv. 'Red'
- Musa sapientum L. f. rubra Bail.
- Musa sapientum L. var. rubra (Firm.) Baker
- Musa rubra Wall. ex Kurz.
- Musa × paradisiaca L. ssp. sapientum (L.) Kuntze var. rubra
- Musa acuminata Colla (AAA Group) cv. 'Cuban Red'
- Musa acuminata Colla (Cavendish Group) cv. 'Cuban Red'
- Musa acuminata Colla (AAA Group) cv. 'Red Jamaican'
- Musa acuminata Colla (AAA Group) cv. 'Jamaican Red'
- Musa acuminata Colla (AAA Group) cv. 'Spanish Red'.
It is known in English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
as Red dacca, Red banana, Claret banana, Cavendish banana "Cuban Red", Jamaican red banana, and Red cavendish banana. It is also known under a variety of common names in other countries, including the following:
- BurmersBurmese languageThe Burmese language is the official language of Burma. Although the constitution officially recognizes it as the Myanmar language, most English speakers continue to refer to the language as Burmese. Burmese is the native language of the Bamar and related sub-ethnic groups of the Bamar, as well as...
: Shwe nget pyaw. - ChineseChinese languageThe Chinese language is a language or language family consisting of varieties which are mutually intelligible to varying degrees. Originally the indigenous languages spoken by the Han Chinese in China, it forms one of the branches of Sino-Tibetan family of languages...
: Hong guo jiao. - DanishDanish languageDanish is a North Germanic language spoken by around six million people, principally in the country of Denmark. It is also spoken by 50,000 Germans of Danish ethnicity in the northern parts of Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, where it holds the status of minority language...
: Kubabanan, Aeblebanan, Rød banan. - DutchDutch languageDutch is a West Germanic language and the native language of the majority of the population of the Netherlands, Belgium, and Suriname, the three member states of the Dutch Language Union. Most speakers live in the European Union, where it is a first language for about 23 million and a second...
: Rode banaan, Cubabanaan. - FrenchFrench languageFrench is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
: Figue rose (Guadeloupe, Martinique), Figue rouge (Haiti), Figue rouge-vin, Figue violette (Guadeloupe), Bacove violette (French Guiana), Banane rouge, Banane violette, Banane de Cuba - GermanGerman languageGerman is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
: Weinrote Banane, Kuba Banane - Hindi: Lal kela, Lal kera, Chenkadali
- Indonesia: Pisang Susu Merah
- ItalianItalian languageItalian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...
: Banana rosa, Banana di Cuba - JapaneseJapanese languageis a language spoken by over 130 million people in Japan and in Japanese emigrant communities. It is a member of the Japonic language family, which has a number of proposed relationships with other languages, none of which has gained wide acceptance among historical linguists .Japanese is an...
: Baracoa - MalaysianMalaysian languageMalaysian or Standard Malay is the official language of Malaysia and a standardized form of the Malay language of the Austronesian family. It is over 80% cognate with Indonesian and is spoken natively by over 10 million people...
: Pisang raja udang - PortuguesePortuguese languagePortuguese is a Romance language that arose in the medieval Kingdom of Galicia, nowadays Galicia and Northern Portugal. The southern part of the Kingdom of Galicia became independent as the County of Portugal in 1095...
: Banana roxa (Brazil), Bananeira roxa, Banana vermelha - Sinhalese: Rathambala
- SpanishSpanish languageSpanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
: Banano color clarete, Tafetan (Colombia), Tafetan morado (Colombia), Guineo morado (Cuba), Colorado (Puerto Rico), Platano colorado - TagalogTagalog languageTagalog is an Austronesian language spoken as a first language by a third of the population of the Philippines and as a second language by most of the rest. It is the first language of the Philippine region IV and of Metro Manila...
: Morado - TamilTamil languageTamil is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by Tamil people of the Indian subcontinent. It has official status in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and in the Indian union territory of Pondicherry. Tamil is also an official language of Sri Lanka and Singapore...
: Sevvazhai செவ்வாழை - ThaiThai languageThai , also known as Central Thai and Siamese, is the national and official language of Thailand and the native language of the Thai people, Thailand's dominant ethnic group. Thai is a member of the Tai group of the Tai–Kadai language family. Historical linguists have been unable to definitively...
: Klue nak
Description
Red bananas should have a deep red or maroon rind when ripe, and are best eaten when unbruised and slightly soft. The redder the fruit, the more carotene and the higher the vitamin C level. As with yellow bananas, red bananas will ripen in a few days at room temperature and are best stored outside refrigeration.Uses
Red bananas are eaten in the same way as yellow bananas, by peeling the fruit before eating. They are frequently eaten raw, whole or chopped, and added to desserts and fruit salads, but can also be baked, fried and toasted. Red bananas are also commonly sold dried in stores.The first bananas to appear on the market in Toronto (in the 1870s and 1880s) were red bananas. Red bananas are available year round at specialty markets and larger supermarkets in the United States.