Thai banana (also called pisang awak) is a banana

cultivar A cultivar is a kind of Horticulture, cultivated plant that people have selected for desired phenotypic trait, traits and which retains those traits when Plant propagation, propagated. Methods used to propagate cultivars include division, root a ...

originating from

Thailand Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...

, belonging to the

triploid Polyploidy is a condition in which the cells of an organism have more than two paired sets of ( homologous) chromosomes. Most species whose cells have nuclei (eukaryotes) are diploid, meaning they have two complete sets of chromosomes, one fro ...

ABB banana cultivar group. This banana cultivar is one of the most important banana fruits in tropical and subtropical regions worldwide. Thai bananas contain many nutrients and are often eaten when ripe or prepared into many other dishes. Almost all parts of the Thai banana tree are used by humans.

Etymology

Thai banana (or 'pisang awak') is also known in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

as 'Ducasse' and 'Kayinja' in

Uganda Uganda, officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the ...

. The Malaysian name "''pisang awak''" is more commonly used among

research institutions A research institute, research centre, or research organization is an establishment founded for doing research. Research institutes may specialize in basic research or may be oriented to applied research. Although the term often implies natural sc ...

. In

, it is known as ''kluai nam wa'' (, ). The term ''nam wa'' has crossed over into the

Khmer language Khmer ( ; , Romanization of Khmer#UNGEGN, UNGEGN: ) is an Austroasiatic language spoken natively by the Khmer people. This language is an official language and national language of Cambodia. The language is also widely spoken by Khmer people i ...

where Thai banana is known in Cambodia as ''chek nam va'' (), but is known in the Khmer-speaking Thai province of Surin as ''chek sâ'' () or white banana. This banana variety has multiple romanizations including 'Namwah Tall' (with a superfluous 'h'). In

Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...

, it is called as or ("Siamese banana", means 'Thailand banana'). In

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

, it is commonly called ''lagkitan'' in the

Southern Tagalog Southern Tagalog (), designated as Region IV, was an administrative region in the Philippines that comprised the current regions of Calabarzon and Mimaropa, the province of Aurora in Central Luzon, and most of the National Capital Region. ...

region or ''botolan'' in the

Palawan Palawan (, ), officially the Province of Palawan (; ), is an archipelagic province of the Philippines that is located in the region of Mimaropa. It is the largest province in the country in terms of total area of . The capital and largest c ...

region. As a stout

mutation In biology, a mutation is an alteration in the nucleic acid sequence of the genome of an organism, virus, or extrachromosomal DNA. Viral genomes contain either DNA or RNA. Mutations result from errors during DNA or viral replication, ...

, 'Dwarf Pisang Awak' is known in

America The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

as Musa 'Dwarf Namwah' as popularized by Agri-Starts Inc; and in Thai language as ''kluai nam wa khom'' ().

Description

Thai banana plant grows up to in height. It is known to produce

seed In botany, a seed is a plant structure containing an embryo and stored nutrients in a protective coat called a ''testa''. More generally, the term "seed" means anything that can be Sowing, sown, which may include seed and husk or tuber. Seeds ...

with the availability of

fertile Fertility in colloquial terms refers the ability to have offspring. In demographic contexts, fertility refers to the actual production of offspring, rather than the physical capability to reproduce, which is termed fecundity. The fertility rate is ...

pollen Pollen is a powdery substance produced by most types of flowers of seed plants for the purpose of sexual reproduction. It consists of pollen grains (highly reduced Gametophyte#Heterospory, microgametophytes), which produce male gametes (sperm ...

Taxonomy

Thai banana is originated from Thailand, a cross between ''

Musa acuminata ''Musa acuminata'' is a species of banana native to South Asia, Southern Asia, its range comprising the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia. Many of the modern edible dessert bananas are derived from this species, although some are hybrids wi ...

'' and ''

Musa balbisiana ''Musa balbisiana'', also known simply as plantain, is a wild-type species of banana. It is one of the ancestors of modern cultivated bananas, along with '' Musa acuminata''. Description It grows lush leaves in clumps with a more upright habit ...

''. Most sources affirm that Thai banana belongs to the triploid ABB genome group. But there is source still thought that this cultivar belongs to the tetraploid AABB genome group? Its official designation is Musa (ABB Group) 'Pisang Awak'. Synonyms include: ''Musa paradisiaca'' var. ''awak''.

Uses

, 'Thai banana' also known as 'pisang awak' (known locally as ''kayinja'') is grown for making

banana beer Banana beer is an alcoholic beverage made from Ethanol fermentation, fermentation of mashed bananas. Commercial sorghum, Sorghum, millet or maize flour are added as a source of wild yeast. Etymology In Uganda, banana beer is known as ''mubisi'', ...

. In

Cambodia Cambodia, officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. It is bordered by Thailand to the northwest, Laos to the north, and Vietnam to the east, and has a coastline ...

, 'Thai banana' as well as 'pisang awak' (known locally as ''chek nam va'') is favored over varieties for its multiple uses while other varieties are valued for the fruit. The banana blossoms (at the stage of male flower production) and pseudostem, although

astringent An astringent (sometimes called adstringent) is a chemical that shrinks or constricts body tissues. The word derives from the Latin '' adstringere'', which means "to bind fast". Astringency, the dry, puckering or numbing mouthfeel caused by t ...

, are eaten as a

vegetable Vegetables are edible parts of plants that are consumed by humans or other animals as food. This original meaning is still commonly used, and is applied to plants collectively to refer to all edible plant matter, including edible flower, flo ...

. The folded leaves are used as a container for making steamed curries, including

fish amok Fish amok or ''amok trei'' ( ) is a Khmer cuisine, Khmer steamed curry, steamed fish curry (''amok'') with a mousse-like consistency, considered one of Cambodia's national dishes. Fish amok is believed to have been a Khmer royal cuisine, royal Kh ...

and ''

ansom chek ''Num ansom'' (, , ) or simply ''ansom'' is a traditional Khmer sticky rice cake. Description It is described as a cylinder-shaped cake made from glutinous rice that can either be filled with sugar bananas (, ), jackfruits (, ), or pork (, ) ...

'' in which the fragrance of the banana leaves is transferred to the food being cooked. In

, Thai bananas are eaten both when ripe, raw and when the fruit is still green. In the Southwest region, almost all parts of the Thai banana tree are used by people to serve their daily lives. " Grilled sticky bananas" is prepared from Thai banana, is one of 9 dishes mentioned by

CNN Cable News Network (CNN) is a multinational news organization operating, most notably, a website and a TV channel headquartered in Atlanta. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable ne ...

in list of "The World's Best Desserts".

References

{{Banana Banana cultivars

Etymology

Description

Taxonomy

Uses

See also

References