Is it true that “Banana” famous among us?, almost everyone loves to eat banana, banana is one of so many type of fruit with smooth flesh, eaten as fresh fruit or cooked first. There are so many varieties of bananas, all variety can be consumed for human kind and rich in protein and other valuable nutrition for your body. Banana came from Family Muscaeae. Some source said that this genus Musa is given to remember Physician, Antonio Musa, who lived on Emperor August. A word Banana adapted from Arabic word “banan” which is mean “finger”. Banana grow with plant identity appearances, it has a root, stem, leaf, flower and fruit.
Root of banana tree is root filled with so many liquid and look like massive sponge. In some region of Indonesia, root from some variety of banana trees could be consumed to a cow or a pig, or sometime cooked with some spices to be listed as one of the recipe in Balinese traditional culinary called Tum Bungkil. Root diameter is depending on how big this banana tree could grow straight up.
Banana only has a pseudostem or a fake stem and could grow up to 7 meter or could be more. This pseudostem usually came from stem of the leaves which act like onion peel. Some variety of banana’s pseudostem can produce special fiber of textile and very well known of its high quality and price. A dried pseudostem also produce a strong string and been utilized as handicraft; e.g.handbag, purse or carpet.
Grow harmonically with pseudostem, banana leaf can be reach up to 3 meter, its soft to hard texture is green canopy and waterproof, been attract people to use it as an umbrella in rainy season to stay save under from rain drop, even these leaf use as to wrap some food culinary product.
Banana has two different kinds of flower, fertile female flower which produce banana fruit and sterile male flower known as banana heart. Male flower usually appeared at edge of flower cultivation, some could change become an actual banana fruit without requiring fertilization. In some region of Southeast Asia, banana heart also taking an important culinary ingredient, eat as cooked food or just eaten raw.
Smooth texture of banana fruit when blended can act as smooth as baby porridge. This flesh porridge (from recommended variety) could become baby food to replace a real wheat or rice porridge with its tremendous nutrition. Special variety of banana fruit used to make famous dessert in Bali, and it’s called Pisang Goreng or banana fritter. Consumed of Pisang Goreng can be match with tea or coffee in every occasion.
History of banana spreading cultivation is an interesting knowledge to be followed. Most of its cultivation is taking place in subtropical to tropical region, like in New Guinea and Southeast Asia, believe that in this climate banana tree could grow and reach its maximum product. Some wild variety of banana still found in New Guinea, Malaysia, Indonesia and Philippine.
Variety of banana is depending on a color of fruit peelings and physical appearances of the fruit. Research of food nutrition announced that banana fruit contain very good nutrition which very useful for human body consumed. This could be main reason why banana is a part of world important economic commodity.
Let’s enjoy the history of banana with every valuable part of it through Pisang Goreng.