Belongings a banana in one'south manus, information technology's difficult to imagine how far bananas have come up. The early species were less than flattering with their thick peels, meager flesh, and bitter sense of taste. Some even had seeds embedded in what fiddling flesh the ripe banana had.

Banana

But that'southward all in the past. Banana varieties these days come in all shapes, colors, and sizes. From the big yellow sweetness Cavendish to the tiny simply no-less-sugariness Lady's Finger assistant. You also have red bananas, green bananas, and bluish bananas that you can cook. The globe of bananas is as diverse and colorful every bit a rainbow in a fairy tale. So if you lot want to grow a banana tree or two in your garden, you can choose any of the post-obit varieties.

Fehi

Fehi bananas accept bright tropical colors that range from cerise to outright orange. A manus of Fehi has short and fat bananas sticking out of it at right angles like stubby fingers. When they get ripe the skin gets this copper color that reminds yous of the sunset skies in the torrid zone. The mankind under the peel is as colorful and tin can be either orangish or creamy. But the Fehi is not for eating raw. This banana releases its flavors and an abundance of nutrients when information technology's either cooked or boiled. The raw ripe Fehi has more starch content than carbohydrate and so it'due south not ideal for fruit salads or healthy smoothies. All the same, the ornamental values of this cultivar make up for its shortcomings in gustatory modality and flavors.

Cavendish

A popular banana cultivar both as a tree and as a fruit. The tree has a green torso and lush cascading green leaves that arch and creates a dense and appealing visual landscape. Most bananas that you find in supermarkets are cavendish. They're slightly sweet, have less starch content, and more moisture than many cultivars. The primal to enjoying this succulent cultivar is not to permit it go overripe. Slightly less than ripe is ideal since the texture of the banana stays firm while the cadre of the banana turns sweet and flossy.

Underripe Cavendish is packed with starch. This is the starch that turns into saccharide when the fruit is right. Equally for the overripe banana, it becomes mushy with the peel turning dark and the flesh becoming transparent. Cavendish has a pocket-size window of ripeness only you tin tiresome the procedure by keeping it in the refrigerator. This allows yous to go on it fresh for upwards to 4 days. If the banana goes overripe you tin can make banana staff of life out of it or melt it with broiled oatmeal.

Dwarf Cavendish

Like to Cavendish bananas simply on a smaller scale. The trees are considerably shorter and more than meaty than the regular Cavendish tree and the hand of bananas carries shorter fruits. The light green fruits accept purple spots that disappear when they ripen. The dominant colour of a ripe dwarf Cavendish banana is vivid yellow.

The leaves of the tree are smaller and wider so they resist strong wind and are non prone to fierce like many other assistant trees. The awning maintains its elegant shape and green luster throughout the growing season. So in addition to their tasty fruits, the trees are a good ornamental add-on to any garden or landscape. You lot can consume the ripe fruits raw or use them in fruit juices and salads. Non recommended for cooking though as the ripe bananas don't take a good texture and tend to intermission downwardly easily.

William Banana

William banana

Another Cavendish diversity that sometimes goes past the Giant Cavendish name. This variety is the exact opposite of the Dwarf Cavendish. The tree is big and tall, the leaves overarch and touch the ground and the hand of the assistant carries behemothic fruits hanging upside downwardly. Everything is large with William assistant except for the taste and flavor. It's mildly sweet and has a flavor to match. If you find this diverseness in your local supermarket, the bananas will be light-green. But once you accept them dwelling house and go out them on the kitchen table for a few hours, they'll speedily turn yellowish. That means you accept one 24-hour interval at most to eat them before they get overripe. Use this banana anywhere you'd use the Cavendish. That includes cooking, blistering, and making desserts.

Praying Easily

Praying Hands bananas are exactly what you'd expect them to look like. Each hand grows two multiple two-rows of the fruit. The two rows grow on pinnacle of each other and facing each other. So they expect like two hands clasped together in fervent prayer. But that's as far equally their unique name will carry them. Other than the unusual rows of fruits, the bananas accept no special appeal either in taste or texture. The loftier starch content of the fruit doesn't suspension down when information technology ripens. The just thing that distinguishes information technology in terms of sense of taste is the potent vanilla flavor. Use it mainly to broil pies and banana breadstuff. The fried assistant chips maintain their strong flavor and serve as a succulent side dish to a juicy burger or BBQ.

Red Banana

Red banana

This cultivar really stands out with the red color of the ripe bananas. The flesh underneath is also pink when ripe. A mitt of ruddy bananas dangling from the assistant tree is something yous'd similar to see in your garden every day. Yet, that only happens for a short period of time in the late summer and information technology ways you were late to harvest your bananas. It's not recommended to allow the blood-red bananas to ripen on the tree. As with other assistant cultivars, they take a brusk window and need to be consumed rapidly. Then information technology'south better to harvest them green or when they're about to turn. Keep the hands in a large fridge and accept out every bit much every bit you need and let information technology ripen for a few days in a absurd and dry room. The flavor of this dazzling red assistant varies. Sometimes it tastes similar raspberry but virtually frequently it'southward an unmistakable earthen flavor.

Apple Bananas

Brusk and sugariness, the pocket-sized apple banana is packed with nutrients, flavors, and sweetness. Grown mainly in Hawaii, the locals sometimes call them Candy Apple Bananas. It'south not clear where the apple fits in, merely one thing is obvious, this small banana is and then tasty it tin can become addictive. This is mainly a tropical tree so it needs all the right conditions associated with the tropics to thrive and abound. This includes high temperature, full sunday, and high humidity. If y'all live in a zone that fits these criteria, yous tin give the apple banana a endeavor. The ripe fruits become greenish-xanthous with a firm texture and pink flesh. It has a longer ripening bridge than other banana cultivars, then yous can consume it fresh at your leisure.

Blue Java

If all of these banana varieties seem overwhelming but nothing stands out nonetheless, wait till you lot get upwards shut and personal with the Blue Java banana. The aptly named cultivar produces brilliant calorie-free blue bananas with vanilla custard flavors and a creamy texture that reminds you of another popular dessert. This is why it'southward sometimes known as the Ice Cream Banana. This banana is a feast of colors and flavors. Besides, this is a hardy tree with a high tolerance for cold weather. So they're more suited to common cold zones from 4 to 6. Most people swallow the Blue Java raw just because it has the gustatory modality, texture, and season of water ice foam. Blend information technology in your smoothie and relish its rich flavors.

Manzano

Manzano banana

Speaking of bananas that serve as a dessert in their ain correct, the Manazon bananas are a practiced example. The xanthous stubby bananas may not look any different than other pocket-sized bananas that are no bigger than a finger. Simply they pack a punch with their strawberry flavors and creamy textures. I call up it'due south safe to say that if y'all have a couple of Manzano banana trees growing in your garden, you'll save a lot when yous go grocery shopping. Not to mention that these natural desserts are healthier and have more than nutrients. We're talking almost copious amounts of vitamin C, cobweb, magnesium, and amino acids in the ripe bananas. Utilise Manzano bananas in water ice cream, and pies to add together a natural flavor and cut down on your intake of candy carbohydrate.

Saba

Saba and Praying Easily are close relatives. They both have double rows of fingers touching together at the tips in prayer manner. Simply Saba is more popular in the Philippines where it's an integral ingredient of the Philippines cuisine. Although Saba doesn't take much taste or flavour, its high content of starch makes it ideal for making banana breadstuff, ginanggang, halo-halo, and turrón. The concluding three are popular dishes in that country.

The Saba banana tree is a squat tree with thick green branches and angular fruits. All of these decorative qualities brand them ideal for tropical gardens and exotic mural designs. The starchy fruits can exist used in baking and cooking, simply they're not recommended as a fruit salad or to be eaten raw.

Goldfinger

The Goldfinger assistant is a tropical cultivar known for its disease resistance. Information technology was first created in Republic of honduras out of a gene pool of Asian banana cultivars just it now grows in many tropical regions across the world. It's best suited for zones ten and 11 with plenty of rainfall and humidity. The tree averages 10 feet high and stays lush greenish during the growing season and well after harvesting. Although the ripe banana has mild flavors and gustatory modality, they merely release those flavors when cooked. The banana fingers are rather curt and slim and have a small ripening window. Broil them in pies, cook them in dessert, and make squeamish banana bread out of the ripe fruits.

Burro

A small and stubby assistant that goes by many names including Squealer, Orinoco, and Horse. The different names are a reflection of the widespread cultivation of this assistant cultivar across different regions and cultures. It'due south as well a testament to the banana's credentials every bit a tasty and juicy fruit that can be eaten raw, mixed with other fruits to make salads and juices, and oven-baked to make delicious banana bread and assistant pie. In some cuisines, Burro is used to make banana fries, a delicious and healthy alternative to spud fries.

The ripe Burro assistant is yellowish-greenish with dark spots on the skin. The flesh has a smooth texture and the core is well-baked. A staple of many tropical cuisines, the banana provides a litany of nutrients including manganese, magnesium, iron, potassium, vitamins B and C as well equally fiber. Dried Burro chips are used as a delicacy in Caribbean cuisine and go well with pork dishes.