What are Burro Bananas?
The Burro bananas resemble the Cavendish variety, only that they are shorter and more square-shaped. The banana peels are dark green, and when fully ripe, they turn to deep yellow with dark sports. Their flesh is yellow or creamy white and, when mature, has a lemon banana flavour and tend to be slightly firmer towards their centre (Ogunlade et al., 2019).
Burro Bananas Benefits
The banana has various health benefits, including assisting in developing muscles, good eyes, preventing kidney disorder, and encouraging brain health. The banana also prevents constipation, its high in iron fibre and has anti-inflammatory properties. The bananas are predominantly known for lowering blood sugar levels and stimulating haemoglobin levels in the body. This is vital as it assists in preventing anaemia or iron deficiency (Ogunlade et al., 2019). The bananas also act as hormone regulators and help lower blood pressure due to the high potassium concentration.
Figure 1 Saturated Fat content of Bananas
Organic Burro Bananas Near Me
Various online outlets offer home delivery of burro bananas within my neighbourhood. For instance, it costs $0.66 to receive a burro banana from Instacart. Another organisation offering home delivery is Exotic Fruits. The products are also stacked in Walmart and can be delivered in my neighbourhood.
Varieties of Burro Bananas
There are varieties of Cavendish bananas, which burro bananas are comprised in. The varieties of burro bananas available include plattano burro, which are mostly feed to donkeys; and burro plantain.
Can You Eat Burro Bananas Raw?
Yes, one can eat burro bananas raw just like other bananas
Burro Banana vs Regular Banana
Burro bananas are distinct from regular bananas in that they have white flesh when young, and when ripe, it changes to creamy white and yellow. On the other hand, regular bananas tend to contain white flesh when unripe and creamy white the ripe. Burro bananas have a lemony flavour when they mature and a tart, more robust flavour when unripe. Regular bananas have a slightly bland taste when they are young and a sweet buttery flavour when ripe. A notable feature is that burro bananas are stubbier and shorter. In contrast, regular bananas do not have prominent ridges.
Figure 2 Nutrition concentration of Bananas
Burro Banana Nutrition vs Regular Banana
Burro bananas have a lower calorie concentration at 110g than regular bananas at 121g (Ogunlade et al., 2019). Unlike regular bananas, burro bananas are concentrated within minerals and rich in iron, potassium, phosphorus, calcium, zinc, and magnesium.
Burro Banana Plantain
The burro plantain is tangy and tart with notes of lime and apple. While maturing, the yellow flesh tends to be soft outwards and crisp texture towards the centre. A ripe burro plantain tends to be creamy sweet in flavour with lemon undertones.
Burro Banana vs Plantain
The primary difference between plantain and burro bananas is recipes, as plantain is a cooked banana. One can also cook burro bananas into plantain as they are included in dessert and baking recipes such as pies and muffins.
Figure 3 Banana Value in 2021
Burro Banana Recipes
Baked Burro Bananas
Ingredients (serve 2)
Two ripe burro bananas
¼ cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons butter, cut into small cubes
¼ teaspoon ground cardamom or allspice
¼ teaspoon cinnamon
Preparation
- Preheat oven to 200℃
- Peel the two bananas and cut them into chunks
- Place the chunks into a shallow baking dish. Sprinkle with cinnamon, cardamom, and brown sugar, and then dot evenly with butter.
- Bake for 20 minutes or until bubbles begins to form. Serve while hot
Burro Banana Seeds
Burro bananas have seeds. These are dark in colour and tend to be small, about the size of a quinoa grain (Nov, 2018). These seeds are edible and are spread along the central stretch of the banana’s core of the white flesh.
References
Nov, A. M. (2018) The Health Benefits of Bananas and Plantains.
Ogunlade, I., Adediran, O. S., Azeez, M. A., Awoyinka, O. A., Ajayi, D. D., Raimi, T. H., & Olanipekun, A. D. (2019). Physiochemical Analysis of Five varieties of Banana commonly consumed in Nigeria. International Journal of Agriculture Innovations and Research, 7, 567-570.
