GOIN' BANANAS! The Different Variety of Philippine Bananas

in food •  7 years ago  (edited)

I went to the market this morning and bought some native bananas. Here in the Philippines, the banana is the most common fruit you can find on a dining table. It is the usual dessert (panghimagas in Filipino) every meal time. At these times you can buy it cheap, right now the organic Lakatan variety is selling at 20 Pesos per kilo approximately 0.40 USD.

The Benefits of Eating Bananas

Bananas are rich in Potassium. Bananas aid in digestion, heart health, weight loss and helps prevent heart diseases. It is an energy booster and a good source of anti-oxidants.

According to healthline.com:

One medium-sized banana (118 grams) also contains:

Potassium: 9% of the RDI.
Vitamin B6: 33% of the RDI.
Vitamin C: 11% of the RDI.
Magnesium: 8% of the RDI.
Copper: 10% of the RDI.
Manganese: 14% of the RDI.
Net carbs: 24 grams.
Fiber: 3.1 grams.
Protein: 1.3 grams.
Fat: 0.4 grams.

The Philippine's Different Banana Variety

1. Lakatan

This is my favorite variety. It is widely used in fruit salads and smoothies. It has a thick orange-yellow skin and is usually medium-sized. It's light orange flesh is still firm and it's very sweet when it's ripe.

2. Cavendish


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Here in our island of Mindanao we have lots of cavendish banana plantation. It is usually medium to large size. Usually we export the cavendish banana because of it's long storage life. It's the most common banana found in groceries worldwide. It's bright yellow medium-thick skin and white flesh is sweet, creamy and aromatic.


Banana plantation in Panabo, Davao del Norte, Philippines
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3. Latundan

The Latundan variety is usually thin skinned with a thicker flesh than the Lakatan variety. It's cheaper as well. It's light yellow skin and white flesh is sweet with a hint of sourness when ripe. The Filipino elderly usually advice this kind to be eaten by babies because of the soft squishy texture when ripe.


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4. Saba or Cardaba


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The saba banana is eaten cooked similar to plantain. It is short and thick. It has a thick skin and it's flesh is a bit sour when ripe. You can grill or fry it as a kebab, we usually call it banana cue, or cook it in batter fried banana fritters known as maruya, or can be made into rolls as turon in the Philippines. This banana is also ideal to be incorporated with other dishes.


banana cue
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maruya or banana fritters
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banana turon
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5. Morado


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Morado in Spanish means "purple". This banana is purplish red in color, a bit similar to the cavendish kind in taste but more aromatic. It is usually medium to large size. Quite rare to find in groceries and local markets.

6. Bungulan


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Bungulan is a type of cavendish that remains green when ripe. It easily rots and usually used in making banana bread. It's size can grow as long as 12 inches. It's taste is similar to the cavendish, sweet, aromatic with a white flesh.


Bungulan variety is ideal for commercially produced banana bread here in the Philippines
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7. Señorita


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The smallest banana variety. It usually measures 3.3 inches long and 1.3 inches thick. It has a thin skin and a cream color. It tastes more like the lakatan variety but sweeter.


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There are more banana varieties but these are the ones usually found in the local fresh market and groceries. Some are sold along the streets or even sold door to door in rural areas. These bananas may differ in size, shape, texture, taste and nutritional content but they are delicious nevertheless.

So it's ok to go bananas over bananas, so have some NOW! :)

Happy Eating!

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  ·  7 years ago (edited)

Bananas are healthy and come in different varieties, however with different names depending on their origin. I love stewed bananas in beef, matoke in Kenya. :)

That's nice to know similar here we put bananas in our dishes. Must be tasty that stewed bananas. Thanks for reading. :)

I love banana - the only fruit which is liked by everyone - Right : ? :)

I think almost everyone love bananas, really delish! :)

I love this post. All of them I've seen except for the Morado. Thanks for sharing! Upvoted and resteemed. :)

Thanks @eastmael, this post is sort of my homage to the fruit everybody loves! :)

May kasunod po ba to? Mangoes perhaps? :D

Yes planning to! I know a lot of varieties. :)

Wow... Banan food, very nice photos, how you take such a beautiful photo, perfect wow, this is a very tasty food, inspiring my taste, so I'm hungry, the dish is food and you take it thoroughly and make a very beautiful picture in the eye, Suitable food served for big and perfect events to taste, good post and success for you...

Thanks, we all love bananas! :)

this post made me crave for banana split. btw nice smile :)

Mmmmm banana split! Thanks for reading and the compliment! 😊

Welcome :) youre free to follow my account too hehe

Naisip ko tuloy si b1 at b2. haha weird. 😂😂

Ganyan talaga, advanced kang tao mag-isip nasobrahan ka yata sa Promil, haha!

Hanggang saan aabot yan B1??

Tama ka dyan B2... Lols

This is top-notch!

Thank you shellany for loving effort in sharing!

Thank you for being one of the pillars in the Steemit Philippines community! :)

This post recieved a vote from @minnowpond. For more information click https://steemit.com/steemit/@minnowpond/boost-your-rewards-with-minnowpond

I grew up in the province, but all these time i thought that latundan and lakatan are the same. 😂

Well anyway, now I know. Haha!Thanks @shellany

@arrliinn

  ·  7 years ago (edited)

Uy nakakahiya ka @arrliinn!!! Haha! Ngayon alam mo na, ha. You're welcome sistahh!

Oo nga.. nakakahiya. Huhuhu. But at least may natutunan ako. Haha

Your posts always amaze me.I am very motivated to visit those places.
I am currently looking for information on safe and reliable travel.
Because maybe by the end of this year I will try to tour some countries for a vacation.
Thank you for your post.

  ·  7 years ago (edited)

Thank you! I do encourage you to travel, it widens your knowledge and uplifts your soul! You're welcome and happy steeming! :)

Wow! My fav cavendish! Upvoted kabayan @shellany 😊.

Salamat! Totyal ang fave mo! hehehe

@shellany Grrr i want banana cue and turon please! Also, You forgot Banana con yelo jk. anyway this is a good article because we are one of the exporters of Bananas in the world.

Why don't you grab some? Thanks for the appreciation!

Sarap nyan good for diet as well, Lakatan at cavendish ay paborito ko... ganito ako pag kumain saging oh!

hahaha Stay happy!

Hahaha good one! Steem on! :)

Hey @shellany! This is a really good post and I appreciate all the work you put into it. It's refreshing to see good content on here amongst all the bad posts with no effort put into it. I personally didn't know there were so many types of bananas even though I've eaten a few of the ones you mentioned. Keep up the great work! I've upvoted and am following you now for more posts like this in the future!
I write about food and travel, have a look at my content if you have time. I think you might enjoy it.

Glad you like my article! I'll check your posts soon.

I got some lady finger bananas last night from my local grocery store to try after reading this article. :D

Wow, nice to know my post influenced you to buy bananas! Happy eating! :)

This is truly an informative post! Lakatan is what I always eat after workout. 😄👌

Wow good to know! Health is wealth! :)

wow salamat at pinangalanan mo sila. Bili lang ako ng bili eh di ko naman alam ang name. basta kahit anong banana ay masaya na kami. lalo na ang turon at banana que sa hapon.

My favorite was the lakatan. It is the sweetest variety that I tasted from all of them.

Indeed! Mine too. :)

My favorites are banana cue and turon. :D

Congratulations! This post has been upvoted from the communal account, @minnowsupport, by shellany from the Minnow Support Project. It's a witness project run by aggroed, ausbitbank, teamsteem, theprophet0, someguy123, neoxian, followbtcnews/crimsonclad, and netuoso. The goal is to help Steemit grow by supporting Minnows and creating a social network. Please find us in the Peace, Abundance, and Liberty Network (PALnet) Discord Channel. It's a completely public and open space to all members of the Steemit community who voluntarily choose to be there.

This post has received a 0.52 % upvote from @drotto thanks to: @banjo.

I recently visited the Philippines for the first time (I steemed about our adventures) and yes, you have good bananas! Great post! Thanks for sharing the knowledge :) Following you!

Thank you, glad you like my article!

great blog ate @shellany ganda po ng pag kakaedit at content :)

Thanks sis @sandaraclark !!

Nice post ...I'll follow and upvote you. Please follow me back and upvote my posts.!!!!
https://steemit.com/introduceyourself/@mabdullah/hellllooo-steemit-i-m-new-here#comments

We just love those bananas and every occasion won't be complete without one. @shellany

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Hi i like your post upvoted your post hope you will like my posts and will upvote my posts as your true follower

I like Lakatan. What is Morado? lol! Never seen that in my life! :p

It is very good post. In my country shops sells black little-sized bananas. It is new combination? Did you known something? It is good or bad?
I like too smoothies with bananas.

Thanks. Are the bananas black when ripe? Or it was yellow? I haven't tried that variety except our bananas here blackens when overripe. It's good if it's ok to eat. :)

Next time I try this bananas. Thanks @shellany.

Nice informative post.

A banana called senorita..i really don't know why that is making me go bananas.

Hahaha hola! Thanks for reading my article! :)