true plantains

{{research paper|date=November 2024}}

{{hatnote|For other starchy bananas used in cooking, see cooking banana, East African Highland bananas (Matoke) and Fe'i banana. For all other uses of "plantain", see plantain (disambiguation).}}

{{short description|Edible fruit of the genus Musa}}

{{Infobox cultivar

| name = Plantain subgroup

| image = Plantains.jpg

| image_caption = Plantains for sale

| genus = Musa

| species = Musa × paradisiaca

| hybrid =M. acuminata × M. balbisiana

| group = AAB Group, Plantain subgroup

| origin = Southeast Asia, South Asia, West Africa

}}

True plantains are a group of cultivars of the genus Musa (bananas and plantains) placed in the African Plantain subgroup of the AAB chromosome group. Although "AAB" and "true plantain" are often used interchangeably, plantains are the most popular varieties among the AABs.{{cite journal | doi-access=free | year=2009 | volume=7 | page=165 | first5=Tim | first4=Xavier | first3=Pierre | first2=Luc | first1=Edmond | last5=Denham | last4=Perrier | last3=Maret | issn=1547-3465 | publisher=Department of Ethnobotany, Ilia State University | journal=Ethnobotany Research and Applications | last2=Vrydaghs | last1=Langhe | s2cid=31729330 | doi=10.17348/era.7.0.165-177 | title=Why Bananas Matter: An introduction to the history of banana domestication| hdl=10125/12513 | hdl-access=free }} The term "plantain" can refer to all the banana cultivars which are normally eaten after cooking, rather than raw (see cooking banana), or it can refer to members of other subgroups of Musa cultivars, such as the Pacific plantains,{{citation |last1=Ploetz |first1=R.C. |last2=Kepler |first2=A.K. |last3=Daniells |first3=J. |last4=Nelson |first4=S.C. |year=2007 |editor-last=Elevitch |editor-first=C.R. |contribution=Banana and Plantain: An Overview with Emphasis on Pacific Island Cultivars |title=Species Profiles for Pacific Island Agroforestry |publication-place=Hōlualoa, Hawai'i |publisher=Permanent Agriculture Resources (PAR) |url=http://67.222.61.70/tti/Banana-plantain-overview.pdf |access-date=2013-01-10 |name-list-style=amp }}{{Dead link|date=July 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=no }} although in Africa there is little to no distinction made between the two, as both are commonly cooked.{{Cite book|last=Carney|first=Judith|url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1525/9780520949539|title=In the Shadow of Slavery|date=2011-02-01|publisher=University of California Press|doi=10.1525/9780520949539|isbn=978-0-520-94953-9}} True plantains are divided into four groups based on their bunch type: French, French Horn, False Horn, and Horn plantains.{{Cite web|url=http://www.promusa.org/Plantain+subgroup|title=Plantain subgroup|website=ProMusa|language=en|access-date=2017-03-01}}

Each bunch type has a variety of cultivars associated with it:

• French cultivars: 'Obino l'Ewai' (Nigeria), 'Nendran' (India), 'Dominico' (Colombia)
• French Horn cultivars: 'Batard' (Cameroon), 'Mbang Okon' (Nigeria)
• False Horn cultivars: 'Agbagba' and 'Orishele' (Nigeria), 'Dominico-Harton' (Colombia)
• Horn cultivars: 'Ishitim' (Nigeria), 'Tanduk', (Indonesia), 'Pisang Tandok' (Malaysia)

In the 1990s, the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture published two guides to help scientists and farmers identify plantains in West Africa and support their cultivation.

• The IITA Reference Guide for "Plantain cultivation under West African Conditions" (1990, page 14){{Cite book|url=http://biblio.iita.org/documents/U90ManSwennenPlantainNothomNodev.pdf-c21f406731488227e116b2e2001010f6.pdf|title=Plantain Cultivation Under West Africa Conditions: A Reference Manual|last=Swennen|first=Rony|date=1990-01-01|publisher=IITA|isbn=9789781310614|language=en|access-date=2016-11-12|archive-date=2017-08-28|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170828142841/http://biblio.iita.org/documents/U90ManSwennenPlantainNothomNodev.pdf-c21f406731488227e116b2e2001010f6.pdf|url-status=dead}} contains photos of different plantain types.
• IITA's Research Guide 66 "Morphology and Growth of Plantain and Banana" (1997, page 10) contains figures of the plantain inflorescence types.{{Cite book|url=https://biblio1.iita.org/bitstream/handle/20.500.12478/3914/U97BkSwennenMorphologyNothomNodev.pdf|title=Morphology and growth of plantain and banana|last1=Swennen|first1=Rony|last2=Ortiz|first2=Rodomiro|date=1997-01-01|publisher=IITA|isbn=9789781311277|language=en}}