Banana is a fruit that can be found anywhere in Indonesia and is well-known in communities across the country. Many years ago bananas were red and green and could only be consumed once cooked. It wasn’t until Jean Francouis Paujot, a Jamaican farmer found a yellow-colored banana with tender flesh at his banana grove, when the fruit became known as it is today. He bred and cultivated this yellow-colored banana and through the years, bananas spread worldwide.

With its tender texture and sweet tasting flesh, each kind of banana has different composition of nutrients. Commonly, bananas contain potassium, calcium, vitamin B and C. This sweet yellow fruit is really digestive-friendly due to its potassium content, which helps replace lost electrolytes from the body. Bananas are also suitable for relieving morning sickness experienced by pregnant women because they contain vitamin B6.

There are many varieties of bananas. We are going to discus the edible ones only.

Ambon Banana

This type of banana is usually fresh yellow or bright green in color. It also tastes sweet. With an elongated oval shape, Ambon bananas have a lot of vitamin A 146 SI, which is good for the eyes.

pisang ambon

Pisang Raja

Pisang raja (king banana) has a significantly more delicate smell compared to other kinds of bananas. It is considered to be an excellent type of banana due to its high vitamin A and C content, which are good for the immune system and also for the eyes. Delicious when its ripe, pisang raja also makes an excellent nagasari (banana dimsum), banana chips and sale pisang (sun-dried banana).

pisang raja

Pisang Mas

Also known as the Lady Finger Banana, the small pisang emas has a diameter of 3-4 centimeters and has a high fiber content. In Indonesia, it is often served as a dessert because of its size. Unfortunately, this banana doesn’t last long once its ripe.

pisang mas

Uli Banana

This type of banana is better consumed boiled or fried as its texture is too rough to be eaten directly. The roots of an uli banana tree is said to stimulate hair growth.

pisang uli

Cavendish Banana

The exceptional quality of this kind of banana is it can’t easily be damaged becauseof its thick skin. The nutritional content is impressively complete and includes riboflavin, manganese, vitamin A, vitamin B6, niacin, fiber, protein, vitamin C, iron, potassium, folate and magnesium.

Pisang Kepok

Pisang kepok (saba banana) is well-known as a processed banana due to its high starch content. This banana may not be very good when eaten ripe, but when cooked or processed as other type of snacks, it is very delicious. Pisang kepok is said to have medicinal qualities and is often eaten to relieve heartburn, thanks to an enzyme it has that can inhibit the development of bacteria!

Pisang Tanduk

Pisang tanduk is solid in texture but creamy, making it the best tasting fried-banana ever! Its size is big compared to other types of banana. It is shaped like a curved-horn, which is where its name comes from.

Lemongrass King Banana

In Indonesia the name of this banana is pisang raja sereh. Some call this pisang susu (milk banana) because of the color of its flesh. The fruit’s skin is thin and yellow with black spots. It smells like lemongrass and tastes sweet once ripe.