PLANTAIN FLOUR[MUSA PARADISIACA]
Listing description
Plantains are also dried
and ground into flour; banana meal forms an important foodstuff, with the
following constituents: water 10.62%, proteins 3.55%, fat 1.15%, carbohydrates 81.67% and ash 3.01%. Dried plantain powder is
mixed with a little fennel seed powder and boiled either in milk or water to
feed small children till the age of one year in southern parts of India.
Detailed description
A plantain, or cooking plantain, 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.[5] Using Simmonds and Shepherds' (1955)
genome-based nomenclature system,[6] 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.
All members of the genus Musa are indigenous to the tropical regions
of Southeast Asia and Oceania, including the Malay Archipelago (modern Indonesia,
Malaysia, Brunei and the Philippines) and
Northern Australia.[7] Africa is considered a secondary centre of
diversity of Musa cultivars: West Africa for plantains
and the central highlands for East African Highland bananas (Musa AAA-EAHB, also known as matooke or matoke in Uganda), most of which are cooked
although some are primarily used to produce beer.
Plantains are a major food
staple in West
and Central Africa (Cameroon and DR Congo), Central America, the Caribbean
islands and northern, coastal parts of South America (Colombia, Venezuela, etc.).
Their attractiveness as food is that they fruit all year round, making them a
reliable all-season staple food.
Description
Plantains contain more starch and less sugar than dessert
bananas and are therefore usually cooked or otherwise processed before being
eaten. They are always cooked or fried when eaten green. At this stage, the
pulp is hard and the peel often so stiff that it has to be cut with a knife to
be removed. Mature plantains can be peeled like typical dessert bananas; the
pulp is softer than in immature, green fruit and some of the starch has been
converted to sugar. They can be eaten raw, but are not as flavorful in that
state as dessert bananas, so are usually cooked. When mature, yellow plantains
are fried, they tend to caramelize, turning a golden-brown color. They can also
be boiled, baked, microwaved or grilled over charcoal, peeled or still in the
peel.
Plantains are a staple
food in the
tropical regions of the world, the tenth most important staple that feeds the
world. Plantains are treated in much the same way as potatoes and with a similar neutral flavour and
texture when the unripe fruit is cooked by steaming, boiling or frying.
Plantains fruit all year round, which makes the crop a reliable
all-season staple food, particularly in developing countries with inadequate
food storage, preservation and transportation technologies. In Africa,
plantains and bananas provide more than 25 percent of the carbohydrate
requirements for over 70 million people.[9] The plant however does not stand high winds
well, and plantain plantations are therefore liable to destruction by
hurricanes.
PRICE
$28/KG OR
$14/IB
For more information:
mobile: +2348039721941
contact person: emeaba uche
e-mail: emeabau@yahoo.com
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