The Thailand expat forum for Travel, Lifestyle and Fun.

Gipsy

One of the last rains/winds took down an old jackfruit tree, so all of a sudden there's a little bit of space and sunlight to allocate to newcomers…..

I'm looking for a particular banana plant…. a blue banana. It's called Musa acuminata x balbisiana Colla cv. 'Blue Java', sometimes also named cv. 'Ice Cream'.
The plant grows to 4.5 m., the leaf midrib is light pink, the flower stalk may be several feet long, but the bunch has only 7 to 9 hands. The fruit is 17 to 23 cm long, up to 6 cm thick, 4-to 5-angled, bluish with a silvery bloom when young, pale yellow when ripe, The flesh is white, sweetish, and is eaten raw or cooked. The quality of the fruit is excellent, many rate this as the best tasting banana.

Of course they can be found on the net, but I'm trying to find a source in Thailand. There must be… I once saw a lot of varieties of banana on a Thai TV program, and these photo's were taken from the net; looks like a display at a flower show in Thailand. The text on the sign of the bluish green banana says something like " kluay Nuan Chuan, kluay Nuan Tchujan".

Anyone seen a nursery who has this one, or somebody growing this one?

WhiteLotusLane

Kluay Nam-Waa Nuan-Chan

(Chan (Jan) as in Moon)

If you find it, I'd love to get a couple of those, too!

daveboy

You learn something new every day blue banana well I never.

slackula

Indeed! I asked my wife about them and she reckons they have varieties with the scent of vanilla and other things.

I wonder if there is a chocolate one? Chocolate flavoured bananas would be the bees knees

hillbilly

Do please let us know. I have heard that Thailand has over 40 different kinds of bananas.

Rural Surin

Our neighbor {in Surin} has a handful of blues just for their own use and immidiate community - nothing commercial. I believe the blue variety they have are refered to as "Burma Blue". Said to have come from up near Lampang/Chiang Mai. But I'm sure they can be found in other regions of the country. As Hilly has said, LOS is rich with a variety of bananas/plantains....different textures, taste, and use. The few blue varieties are rather unique, in the sense as one can eat them 'green' without ill-affects. They preserve better as well because of their different chemical makeup. As to finding them to start-up......your local market {asking around} might be of some use. Do a deep search online as to where one can physically obtain such a product at particular nurseries. Good luck!

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WESTERN CIVILISATION....???

Gipsy

Rural Surin, no..... "Burmese Blue" is a different variety.... See picture. Original from Tibet and when ripe, the bananas have a skin that is bright blue-violet in color. The one I'm looking for is bluish-green when unripe, yellow-green when ripe.

Gipsy

Taken from the net:


There are more than 50 varieties of banana in Thailand. Four of them are cited as economic fruits for their distinctive features and taste.


HOM THONG (Gros Michel) is similar to the Cavendish, but with a finer skin, and it is aromatic and sweet tasting. It is grown abundantly in the central region, in Bangkok, Pathum Thani, and the neighboring provinces. It is exported to Hong Kong, Singapore, Japan, and Europe. The organic, toxin-free hom thong is the latest craze.



KLUAY KHAI (Pisang mas), a small, exotic banana that is becoming much sought after among foreign buyers. Apart from its small size, attractive bunch, and sweet taste, its orange-beige color is highly appreciated. It is grown in Kampaengpetch and Phetchaburi provinces. The major export market is Singapore.



KLUAY NAMWA (Pisang awak) is probably the most familiar to Thais, for whom it was an essential source of nourishment in their childhood. It is high in vitamins and good for the intestines and digestive system. All parts of the plant can be utilized. The Thai people eat the fruit and cook it as a sweetmeat, or khanom, in assorted ways. It can also be sun-dried or grilled over charcoal. Kluay namwa can also be an ingredient in or accompany Thai dishes. It is grown in all regions of the country.


KLUAY LEB MEU NANG is a delicacy of the South. It has become widely popular for its miniature size, fine shape, and sweet taste. It acquired its name from its peculiar shape, resembling a lady’s manicured fingernails.

Bananas for a New Generation
Scientific discoveries have not passed over the field of food and nutrition. Modern improvements in food preservation and processing can also be seen in the handling of bananas in Thailand.


Organic Bananas
In 1991, a project came into being at Tha Yang District in Phetchaburi Province, known as the Organic Hom Thong Banana Project. It grew out of cooperation between the Trading Cooperatives of Thailand and the Tohto Tokyo Consumer Cooperatives Society, with close supervision provided from the beginning by the Phytopathological Group of the Department of Agriculture, Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives. The brand name “Hom Thong Banana” was created with the objective to produce toxin-free golden bananas for export to Japan, targeting the health-conscious Japanese consumers who insist on natural agricultural practice and chemical-free products.

daveboy

It seems bananas are very interesting

Mystery of the blue bananas

Posted by Tom under News


Before last year no one knew ripe bananas glow blue under ultraviolet light. Now the group which made the discovery have found when bananas ripen, little blue halos appear around dark spots on the peel. However, the exact reason for the blue glow is still a mystery.
Sadly the chemists did not chance across the luminescence while eating a banana under a sun bed. Instead, it came while they were looking for yellow compounds, as reported here, last year. Researchers from the University of Innsbruck, Austria and Columbia University, US, found the blue luminescence originates from fluorescent chlorophyll catabolites (FCCs), particularly one called Mc-FCC-53, which they indentified through a combination of high performance liquid chromatography, mass spectrometry and nuclear magnetic resonance. This latest banana breakthrough came after the team used fluorescence analysis to reveal that under UV light, the dead spots that appear on a banana’s skin are surrounded by intense bright blue halos.
FCCs are short-lived intermediates of chlorophyll degradation in many plants. However, FCCs in bananas differ from those in other plants by the presence of a propionate ester group, which serves to stabilise the compounds. Since FCCs seen in bananas seem to be specially modified for increased stability, they are assumed to have some beneficial function. The authors suggest the blue luminescence is a sign of cell death, since the halos materialise as the fruit changes from ripe to rotten.
The blue glow may serve to warn fruit-eating animals about the ripeness of the bananas. Many animals, including parrots, can observe a wider range of UV wavelengths than humans. Another possibility is that the FCCs delay the onset of rotting, or serve some other, as yet unknown, function.

DrAndy

a whole new world of bananas

TizMe

We've got Red Bananas here in Singapore.

These bananas originate in Costa Rica.
What is a Red Banana?