Latundan banana plants typically reach a height of 10 to 13 feet. They require full or partial sun exposure. The flowers are yellow, purple, or ivory. The fruits are round-tipped with thin yellow skin that splits once fully ripe. They are smaller than the Lacatan cultivar and the commercially dominant Cavendish bananas.[3][4] They have a slightly acidic, apple-like flavor.[5]
Taxonomy
In older classifications, the Latundan cultivar was once the plant referred to as Musa sapientum. It has since been discovered that Musa sapientum is a hybrid cultivar of the wild seeded bananas Musa balbisiana and Musa acuminata and not a species.[6]
The Latundan banana is a triploid (AAB) hybrid.[7]
Its full name is Musa acuminata × M. balbisiana (AAB Group) 'Silk'.
Latundan bananas are popular dessert bananas that are eaten raw or cooked without the skin. The shoots and stalks are eaten cooked. In Myanmar and Thailand, the flowers are cooked and eaten in some recipes.
^Hautea, D.M., G.C. Molina, C.H. Balatero, N.B. Coronado, E.B. Perez, M.T.H. Alvarez, A.O. Canama, R.H. Akuba, R.B. Quilloy, R.B. Frankie, C.S. Caspillo (19 July 2002). "Analysis of induced mutants of Philippine bananas with molecular markers". Institute of Plant Breeding, College of Agriculture, University of the Philippines Los Baños, FAO Corporate Document Repository. Retrieved 12 January 2011.((cite web)): CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
