Ensete ventricosum

Ensete ventricosum, commonly known as enset or ensete, Ethiopian banana, Abyssinian banana, pseudo-banana, false banana and wild banana, is a species of flowering plant in the banana family Musaceae. The only country where the domesticated form of the plant is cultivated is Ethiopia, where it provides the staple food for approximately 20 million people. The name Ensete ventricosum was first published in the Kew Bulletin 1947, p. 101. Its synonyms include Musa arnoldiana De Wild., Musa ventricosa Welw. and Musa ensete J. F. Gmelin. In its wild form, it is native to the eastern edge of the Great African Plateau, extending northwards from South Africa through Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Malawi, Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania to Ethiopia, and west to the Congo, being found in high-rainfall forests on mountains, and along forested ravines and streams.

Description

A banana like plant. It grows to 6-12 m high. The lower part of the leafy false stem is swollen. Many different varieties exist. The leaves are bright green with an obvious red midrib. The leaves can be 5 m long and 0.9 m wide. The flower is a very large hanging spike. It is 2-3 m long. The flowers are cream coloured. There is a single petal in a large red bract. The fruit resemble small bananas. They are 6-8 cm long and 3 cm thick. They have a yellow skin. The seeds are pea like and fill the fruit. The seeds are black and about 6 mm across. There are 50 cultivated types.

Edible Uses

The corms and leaf sheaths are chopped, grated, and fermented to produce a flour used in making kocho bread, either as 100% kocho flour or blended with other cereal flours; it is said to taste like good quality bread. The endosperm of the seed is also consumed as food. The base of the flower stalk is edible when cooked.

Traditional Uses

The fermented pulp (kocho) of the stem is eaten. It is used as a flour to make bread. The leaf bases and fresh corms are cut up and boiled as a vegetable. The milky white juice extract is allowed to ferment in pits lined with ensete leaves then cooked. The young flowers are eaten as a relish. The fruit are eaten only in times of food scarcity. It is the endosperm of the seeds that is eaten.

Medicinal Uses

None known.

Distribution

It grows in tropical Africa. It does best with a temperature of 18-28°C and a relative humidity of 60-80 %. In Ethiopia it grows between 1500 and 3000 m altitude but does best between 1700 and 2450 m altitude. In Malawi it is usually on the edges of forests or in sheltered gullies. It is damaged by frost or drought. It can grow in arid places. In the Cairns Botanical Gardens. It suits hardiness zones 10-12.

Where It Grows

Africa, Angola, Asia, Australia, Angola, Burundi, Cameroon, Central Africa, Central America, Congo, East Africa, Ethiopia, Guatemala, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Myanmar, Pacific, Philippines, Rwanda, Sao Tome and Principe, SE Asia, South Africa, Southern Africa, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, West Africa, Zambia, Zimbabwe,

Cultivation

It can be grown by seed. It is normally grown by bud suckers or shoots. To get bud suckers a 4-6 year old plant is cut off at 20-30 cm height. The central bud (which would normally grow one shoot) is removed and the hole filled with soil. The corm is then replanted into a manured pit about 5 days later. After 4-8 weeks this produces 40-200 buds. These can be separated and grown in a nursery for one year before being transplanted into the field. These plants are normally then transplanted to wider spacing after 2 then 4 years. Plants reach harvest maturity in 6-7 years. Suckers can be used for transplanting and reach maturity in 2 years. The final spacing for bud suckers is 3 m x 1.5 m. Large amounts of organic manure are often applied. Plants are harvested before the onset of flowering.

Propagation

Sow the large seeds individually in pots in a heated greenhouse at any time of year, pre-soaking them for 24 hours in warm water beforehand. Germination should occur within 3 months. Grow plants on for at least a couple of winters under glass before attempting outdoor cultivation. Suckers can be divided in spring — remove as much of the sucker's root system as possible without excessively disturbing the main plant, then pot up and grow on in light shade in the greenhouse until established.

Other Uses

A fibre is obtained from the plant.

Production

An average family cultivates 200-400 plants per year and they eat about 10-20 plants per person per year. In Ethiopia using1600 plants per hectare at a spacing of 2.5 m gave about 5000 kg per hectare of refined product.

Other Information

In areas with an ensete staple between 0.5-0.7 kg of kocho are eaten per person per day. This provides about 860-1400 calories. It is a staple food for 10 million people.

Notes

There are 10 Ensete species.

Nutrition

Synonyms

Also Known As

Abyssinian banana, Bananeira selvagem, Chizuzu, Echecha, Enset, Hovha, Ihindu, Inset, Inteembeteembe, Kitembe, Koba, Latembe, Linyimbili, Magao, Mgomba pori, Mulolo, Olek, Ol-musalala, Sasuriet, Shwe-nget-pyaw, Tambwe, Warqee, Workem

References (54)

• Alemneh, D., 2020, Ethnobotany of wild edible plants in Yilmana Densa and Quarit Districts of West Gojjam Zone, Amhara Region, Ethiopia. Ethnobotany Research & Applications. 20:47
• Allen, D. J., 2007, Wildflowers and Common Trees of East Africa. Camerapix Publishers p 170
• Ambasta, S.P. (Ed.), 2000, The Useful Plants of India. CSIR India. p 196
• Asfaw, Z., Conservation and use of traditional vegetables in Ethiopia. FAO
• Bekele-Tesemma A., Birnie, A., & Tengnas, B., 1993, Useful Trees and Shrubs for Ethiopia. Regional Soil Conservation Unit. Technical Handbook No 5. p 210

More from Musaceae

Ensete livingstonianum

Livingston's banana.

Ensete superbum

Cliff banana

Ensete ventricosum cv. maurelii

Ethiopian black banana

Musa acuminata subsp. malaccensis

Musa aurantiaca

Musa balbisiana var. liukiuensis