Wanted: a blue banana

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?


https://teakdoor.com/Gallery/albums/u...lue-banana.jpg

Kluay Nam-Waa Nuan-Chan

(Chan (Jan) as in Moon)

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

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

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Originally Posted by daveboy

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

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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 :)

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

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!:)

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.

https://teakdoor.com/images/smilies1/You_Rock_Emoticon.gif

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.


https://teakdoor.com/images/smilies1/You_Rock_Emoticon.gif 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.



https://teakdoor.com/images/smilies1/You_Rock_Emoticon.gif 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.



https://teakdoor.com/images/smilies1/You_Rock_Emoticon.gif 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.


https://teakdoor.com/images/smilies1/You_Rock_Emoticon.gif 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.


https://teakdoor.com/images/smilies1/You_Rock_Emoticon.gif 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.

It seems bananas are very interesting

Mystery of the blue bananas

Posted by Tom under News

https://teakdoor.com/images/imported/2009/10/2454.jpg
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.https://teakdoor.com/images/imported/2009/10/2455.jpg
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.

a whole new world of bananas

We've got Red Bananas here in Singapore.
https://teakdoor.com/images/smilies1/You_Rock_Emoticon.gif
These bananas originate in Costa Rica.
What is a Red Banana?

Yes, well over 40. I've been thinking of growing "Lady Finger" bananas on our rai in Phuket. From what I've read, one rai gets you 1,000 plants which, at about 20 Baht per kilo, gets you 700-800K Baht per year. Anyone here know about growing dwarf bananas?

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Originally Posted by cswift1

Anyone here know about growing dwarf bananas

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Yep. Nawty might... :rolleyes: https://teakdoor.com/farming-and-gardening-in-thailand/67625-research-breakthrough.html


And maybe here: How to Grow Bananas - Banana.com and here: Banana Gallery - Main Index

If, by any chance, you see a 'blue one' for sale, you know where to find me...

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Originally Posted by cswift1

one rai gets you 1,000 plants which, at about 20 Baht per kilo, gets you 700-800K Baht per year

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Thats about 35 harvests, one crop every 12 days or so.

I'm having trouble believing these numbers!

Yes. Sounds a bit "out there". But in one article I read, it takes a year to come to harvest and one plant will produce around 35 kilos in that time. And - supposedly - your 35,000 kilos will sell at 18-22 Baht per kilo. Mmmmm.

The part I really had a question about was 1,000 plants per rai. I don't know how much width these plants need but 1 plant per 0.625 sq. meters (that's about 80 cm x 80 cm) seems kind of tight, yes?

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Originally Posted by cswift1

seems kind of tight, yes?

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They don't like competition.

I wish you were right! I had one volunteer take two days to count my banana trees on the farm, she came back with 4000.
There are 5 kinds we grow, and one red that "smells" very good.
Sometimes, I load a pick-up and drive 100 km to the market in Chiang mai. I get between 7-10 bth per hand, enough to pay the gas and to buy some vegetables for the "family".
There is no way you can put so many in one rai.
It's an annual plant, one flower (that you must cut if you don't want to break teeth on seeds in the fruit), and one bunch per tree, with so many hands depending on the soil... and the weather, I suppose.
We grow them for the trunks, to feed the pigs. A fortune in bananas? I doubt it is possible. Maybe, if I removed everything else and grew on all 150 rais?

We have another banana tree growing that has fruit that is about 12 to 18 inches long.

The wife is looking forward to these ones.

^ Google The Magic Banana... can't eat them but "There is nothing else like it!", apparently....:mid:

can use it as a sling shot also...

I have blue bannana seeds on their way i will be back into thailand in nov-dec if you havent found i could let you have a few. I have ordered about 400 kinds of tropicals just to see how they do. also have some real good watermellon seeds maybe 8 different kinds hopeing they do good here. pm me if you would like some of the bannana seeds