Difference between: bananas and plantains

Difference Between, Fooding,

Definitions:

  • Banana: a tropical plant of the genus Musa, certain species of which are cultivated for their nutritious fruit.
  • Plantain: a tropical plant, Musa paradisiaca, of the banana family, resembling the banana.

Don’t you just love definitions like those?

Exhibit A: Banana. Exhibit B: Fruit that looks like a banana.

We may have to dive a bit further to determine the difference between bananas and plantains.

several bunches of bananas bunched together with one banana partly open in the middle

Both bananas and plantains:

  • Are tropical fruits.
  • Have the same crescent shape.
  • Are nutritious, offering dietary fiber, vitamin A, and vitamin C.

Bananas:

  • Are smaller than plantains.
  • Are yellow when ripe, green when unripe.
  • Are often consumed raw.
  • Are usually consumed when ripe.
  • Are a great source of potassium.

Plantains:

  • Are larger and thicker skinned than bananas.
  • Are green, then turn yellowish black as they ripen.
  • Cannot be consumed raw.
  • Grow sweeter as they ripen.
  • Are lower in sugar and higher in starch than bananas.
  • Are treated like vegetables.

In short, plantains are starchy and more potato-like than bananas. Although, green bananas can be cooked in a similar manner to plantains.

I feel like I don’t hear a lot about plantains. But, they’re probably a neat fruit/vegetable to cook with. It appears that plantain chips may be on the rise as a healthier alternative to potato chips.