Bananas are the most famous tropical fruit that provides remarkable taste and nutrition. The sweet and soft fruit grows in clusters. Bananas grow best in humid, hot climates and are most generally imported from Central America, including Costa Rica, Guatemala, Panama, and Ecuador.
Banana contains vitamin C, vitamin B6, fiber, folate, and potassium. Vitamin C may protect your body against cell and tissue damage and help your body absorb iron better. Vitamin B6 may produce red blood cells, remove unwanted chemicals from your kidney and liver and maintain a healthy nervous system. Eating bananas can help reduce blood pressure, be good for your skin and health, minus the fat and cholesterol, beat gastrointestinal issues, and lower cancer risk.
They reduce the risk of diabetes, are suitable for heart health, and encourage good digestion. Banana comes in all different sizes, tastes, colors, and firmness. There are 1000 types of bananas all over the world.
Here are some of the Most common types of bananas.
- Cavendish bananas
- Gros Michel
- Ladyfinger
- Blue java
- Manzano
- Red bananas
- Goldfinger bananas
- Praying hand bananas
- Orinoco bananas
- Fehi bananas
- Burro bananas
- Macho Plantain
- Pisang Raja
- Barangan bananas
- Dwarf Jamaican
1) Cavendish Bananas
These bananas are the most common type, readily available in supermarkets around the U.S. They are slightly sweet and long yellow bananas and have a creamy texture. They have different stages of ripening, from green to yellow, smooth yellow to dark yellow with brown spots. It contains less sugar but is high in potassium.
It also contains carbs and calories. However, if you are trying to weight loss don’t eat too many bananas. It may help heart-healthy, balance blood, maintain kidney health, protect the nervous system and the potential for stock away, mood booster, and good for brain health.
2) Gros Michel
Gros Michel is a sweet, yummy, creamy, and fragrant type of banana that grows in various regions of Uganda. Gros Michel is known as Kluai Hom Thong in Thailand. It has medium-to-large-sized with a thick peel. It also provides many health benefits. It contains magnesium, potassium, and folate. It may help with muscle recovery, essential for nerve function, Heal your tired day and mood booster, boost digestion, support weight loss, and assist in serotonin, which regulates mood.
3)Lady Finger
Ladyfinger bananas are known as baby bananas and grow on slender and tall trees that can reach somewhere from 5 to 25 in height. They have thin, bright yellow skin and sweet, creamy flesh. They are rich in dietary fiber and potassium. They are loaded with good pre-biotic bacteria, which is best for gut health.
Ladyfinger bananas are also high in Vitamin B5 and C, with lesser quantities of Vitamin E, K, and A. They are packed with minerals, including magnesium, zinc, calcium, and manganese, very low on the glycemic scale, and suitable for a diabetic diet. They may improve kidney function, lower high blood pressure, be ideal for healthy eyesight, and increase energy.
Take a look at some cool facts about bananas
4)Blue Java
Blue java bananas are a kind of banana with a texture and taste similar to vanilla ice cream. They are also popular as ice-cream bananas and native to Southeast Asia. They have a blue peel and white flesh and can grow in colder regions. They also provide many health benefits.
They are packed with manganese, fiber, vitamin C, and B6 source. They also contain potassium, magnesium, copper, fiber, pantothenic acid, riboflavin, folate, and niacin. They also provide decent phosphorus, iron, selenium, and thiamine. They may help support digestive health and promote weight loss.
5)Manzano
Also known as “apple banana,” Manzano is tasty whether used in fruit salad, baked in bread, eaten as a snack, or blended in a smoothie. They are plump and stout, with a thick peel and creamy flesh. They are grown in Central and South America, Mexico, and the Caribbean. They are petite and chubby with yellow skin that transforms black when fully ripe. Manzano is an excellent source of potassium.
Increasing the amount of potassium in a regular diet through foods like Manzano bananas may offer protection against hypertension, mainly in people who are sensitive to sodium. High blood pressure and Hypertension a common risk factors for coronary heart disease, stroke, kidney disease, congestive heart failure, and peripheral arterial disease.
6)Red bananas
The majority of people are only aware of the yellow banana, and a few are aware of the red banana. The red bananas are also known as “Dacca bananas” and have a light pink colored flesh. They are much softer and sweeter than cavendish bananas. Some fruits have an earthy flavor, and others have a slight raspberry taste.
The fruit is a richer source of antioxidants, Vitamin C, and B6. They may boost the immune system, suitable for skin, beneficial for skin, help in weight loss, clean blood, prevent anemia, enhance your vision and increase energy.
7) Goldfinger bananas
This new type from Honduras has a slightly sweet apple-like flavor. It is wind, cold-tolerant, and disease-resistant. It doesn’t transfer into brown when cut. This type is a cross between ladyfinger and Cavendish.
8)Praying hand banana
Praying hand bananas are native to the Philippines and Indonesia. An unusual type with two adjacent “hands” that grow merged, hence the name. They grow in bunches on the fruiting stems. The flesh is bright yellow-white, starchy, and firm.
They are available in the fall and winter months. They are eaten both cooked and raw. They are rich in fiber, potassium, and carbohydrates. They are an excellent source of Vitamin A, B-complex vitamin, magnesium, and vitamin C. The unique bananas also contain calcium, iron, copper, and zinc.
9) Orinoco banana
The Orinoco banana, native to Venezuela’s Orinoco river basin, grows on a medium-sized plant that can grow somewhere from 3 to 6 meters tall. They survive well in cold winds and climates. The texture becomes soft and silky when they mature, with fibrous peel and firm.
When it ripens, the skin will transfer into yellow and begin to darken. They are high in fiber and carbohydrates. They are also a richer source of Vitamin B6, potassium, and vitamin C. Bananas are high in antioxidants, catechin, and dopamine.
10) Fehi banana
Fehi banana has orange to red skin, with orange or yellow flesh. It becomes more delicious and healthy when boiled and baked. The fruit has a wealthier proportion of starch and less sugar than other banana types. They are a good source of calcium, potassium, vitamin E, and carotenoids.
11)Burro banana
Burro bananas are native to Central America and grow in Mexico. Burro bananas have a tangy and lemony taste, making them unique kinds of bananas. They have a smaller, flatter, and square shape than the Cavendish banana. The flesh is yellow and creamy white. They have very low calories and very little fat. They are rich in potassium and contain a decent amount of Vitamin C, fiber, vitamin B, and magnesium. They also contain phosphorous, calcium, zinc, copper, iron, and selenium. They may help regulate hormones, and iron deficiency, prevent anemia and lower blood pressure.
12) Macho plantain
Plantains are the less sweet, starchier equal to the banana. Sweet bananas, also called “dessert bananas,” are much more famous in Europe and the United States, But plantains are vital staples for people in tropical countries. Cooked plantains are nutritionally similar to the potato, calories-wise, but contain more vitamins and minerals.
They are a high source of vitamin A, fiber, magnesium, Vitamin C, potassium, and vitamin B6. They also contain protein and carbohydrates. They may help with weight management, are suitable for your heart, manage cholesterol, and increase fullness.
13) Pisang Raja
Pisang raja is considered the king of bananas for cooking and eating. Pisang raja is also known as Musa Belle banana and is famous in Indonesia, where they are used to make banana fritters. They taste like honey-flavored custard with a creamy and smooth consistency.
They are slightly shorter than Cavendish bananas, usually 4 to 6 inches in length. They are a rich source of fiber, potassium, vitamin C, B12, D, and A, and lower amounts of calcium, copper, and manganese. They may help encourage the digestive tract, strengthen the immune system, build muscle, and balance fluid levels within the body.
14) Barangan banana
Barangan banana yellow-colored peel has black spots and has a sweet taste. Its flesh is pure white and seedless. This variety is quite famous and liked as a dessert in many regions across the tropics. They are native to West Malaysia and available year-round in Malaysia. They are a fantastic source of fiber to encourage the digestive tract, potassium to balance fluids levels within the body and reduce inflammation, and vitamin C to boost the immune system. They also contain folic acid to help create new red blood cells and have a decent amount of calcium, magnesium, and phosphorus.
15)Dwarf Jamaican
Also known as the Cuban red banana, and when fully ripe, it transfers into a sunset yellow color. It is smaller than the Cavendish variety and has a raspberry flavor with creamy to pink flesh. You can slice and eat it raw when ripe or use it in the salad. It is very high in provitamin A.