Original title: Hainan Weekly | Have you seen these various bananas?
Wen Hainan Daily reporter Yan Lanqing
The four seasons rotate, and the summer comes to the cold. Plants have an innate sensitivity to light and heat. Located in tropical Hainan, with its special geographical location and unique "light, temperature and water" resources, various plant species have been bred, and bananas are one of the typical representatives. In early spring, we walked through the green fields of banana forests and got a close look at the "bananas" in Hainan Island.
"Take charge of Hua Dan" banana
Banana cultivation has a long history in China. The ancient plantain and banana described the same kind of plantain, and it was not until the Qing Dynasty that they were gradually called bananas, that is, we are familiar with edible bananas with economic value.
In the cultural tradition of China, the banana seems to be in a relatively marginal position, but perhaps because of its combination of beauty and delicacy, no matter how the times change, the banana with millions of fans can easily "go out of the circle".
In Song Dynasty, bud banana is one of the fruits that can be appreciated in summer. In Song Dynasty, Fan Chengda recorded in Gui Hai Yu Heng Zhi: "Bud bananas are as small as chicken bananas, especially fragrant, tender and sweet, and bear fruit in early autumn." Zhou Qufei, a geographer in the Southern Song Dynasty, also wrote: "Bud banana is as small as chicken banana, especially fragrant, tender and sweet, and it is precious to southerners, not comparable to other bananas, and it is only real in early autumn." "Sweet, tender and sweet" is the common memory of "Bud Banana" by Fan Chengda and Zhou Qufei.
In Su Dongpo’s pen, bud banana is also a delicious bear. Su Dongpo once wrote a book to a local governor in Guangxi: "Those who have never known it are fortunate to have tasted it all, and they are ashamed to thank you in a hurry." Between the lines, we can not only feel the great writer’s joy after tasting the perfect banana, but also feel his cherish for the giver’s kindness. In Zhang Qu, an important official in the Qing Dynasty, his love for banana shoots was even more straightforward. According to "A Record of Guangdong’s News", "Banana shoots are beautiful. Milk banana is the second. Drumsticks and bananas are the worst! "
Which variety of bananas has the largest number in Hainan? The answer is banana with fragrant buds, also known as "Chinese banana", which is the most common banana cultivation variety. At present, the proportion of banana in our province is 80%, and the characteristic banana is 20% (characteristic banana is mainly powder banana, tribute banana and plantain, etc.).
The bergamot banana in the "Window of the World Tropical Fruit" in Huzai Village, Dalu Town, qionghai city. Photo courtesy of respondents
In Haikou, Chengmai, Lingao and Danzhou, banana varieties with fragrant buds mainly include Brazil banana, Baodao banana, Nantianhuang and so on, while characteristic bananas are mainly imperial banana and powder banana. From May to August every year, thanks to the unique heat and light conditions in these areas, the land is flat and fertile, and the water source is abundant, the yield of "banana" here is relatively high.
Although the advantages of favorable weather and geographical location are exhausted, the competition among the major varieties of banana is still fierce. Xie Jianghui, vice president of the Chinese Academy of Tropical Agricultural Sciences and chief scientist of the national banana industrial technology system, said that in recent years, with the unremitting efforts of researchers, the banana’ Zhongre No.1′ of the Xiangya banana family officially "debuted" on June 18, 2021. At present, in Datian, Dongfang City, Hainan Province, the highest yield per mu of "Banana’ Zhongre No.1’" can reach 4,100 kg, and its resistance to banana Fusarium wilt is significantly higher than that of Brazilian banana, so it has the characteristics of high resistance to banana Fusarium wilt. At present, China has bred a number of main varieties and disease-resistant varieties, and established a germplasm repository. At present, there are more than 600 banana germplasm resources in China, ranking third in the world.
"Qianzi Sandy" Melaleuca banana
Have you ever seen a plant that can produce 1000 bananas at a time? In the "Window of Tropical Fruits in the World" in Huzai Village, Dalu Town, qionghai city, there is a plant named Melaleuca, which is also called Elephant trunk banana or Thousand Fingers banana. It is native to Southeast Asia, with a plant height of 3-4 meters, from young plants to adult plants. This plant is no different from ordinary banana trees. When it blooms and bears fruit, its scene is spectacular.
Thousand-layer banana unveiled at the 2021 China (Hainan) International Tropical Agricultural Products Winter Fair. Photo by Wei Maojin
People can see many spike-shaped flowers when Melaleuca banana blooms, and it is particularly interesting that when Melaleuca banana blooms, the inflorescence axis will always extend downward, and the pollinated flowers will gradually develop and bear fruit, so usually the upper part of the fruit is mature, and the inflorescence axis is still growing downward, almost close to the ground.
The fruits of Melaleuca banana grow densely and have a large number. Generally, a fruit cluster can reach more than 70 layers, with more than 10 fruits on each layer, and the total number can exceed 1000. On the whole, the fruit clusters are thick on the top and thin on the bottom, 2 to 3 meters long, and naturally fall from the forks. In particular, the fruits are closely arranged layer by layer, forming a series of rough strip-shaped spots. From a distance, it looks like an elephant’s nose hanging on a tree, while the fruit looks like a ring pattern on its trunk, so it has another name of "elephant trunk banana". In Malaysia and other countries, this plant is also known as the "banana king".
Can you eat thousand layers of banana? Zhao Dezhen, sales manager of Hainan Shengda Modern Agricultural Development Co., Ltd., told Hainan Daily reporter that in fact, the fruit of Melaleuca is edible after it matures and turns yellow. However, because its fruit is smaller than ordinary bananas, it has little pulp, and some of it tastes sour, and its edible value is not high. It is mainly used for ornamental purposes, and occasionally it can be seen that mature fruits are enjoyed by birds or squirrels.
Little prince banana, a "young boy"
In the "window of tropical fruits in the world", there is also a plant called "Little Prince Banana". This is a kind of plantain with a maximum height of 60 to 80 cm, which is native to the United States. Because of its small size, it is very suitable for indoor plants and tropical bonsai in gardens or containers. The ripe banana has attractive fruit and can be eaten.
According to the literature, "banana" as a garden ornamental plant was not later than the early Western Han Dynasty. The word "Ba Ju" recorded in Zi Xu Fu by Sima Xiangru, a writer of the Western Han Dynasty, is "Bajiao", which is the earliest record of "Bajiao" in ancient literature. After the Tang Dynasty, plantain became the most common ornamental plant in the garden, and there were a lot of poems chanting the beauty of color, shape and posture of plantain in past dynasties. In particular, the banana leaves are exquisite and clear, and the leaves are light green and lovely. They are planted in front of the garden window to provide shade and cool, and are deeply loved by poets. Li Shangyin has a saying that "the banana opens a green fan", and Yang Wanli once praised it again and again in his poems: "The green banana shakes its fan" and "countless green fans around it make it cool when the wind doesn’t come". Summer is scorching, and the heat is unbearable. Even if there is no wind, the broad leaves of banana give people a burst of coolness.
The times are developing, and the story about "banana" entering the court is also evolving. At present, it is becoming a new development trend to develop banana cultural tourism routes with banana standard demonstration parks and ornamental landscape parks as carriers, and to build an industrial integration model of "planting+logistics+Internet", "planting+processing+sales" and "planting+tourism", which integrates banana planting, processing, trade, tourism and culture. Guo Qingjun, president of Chengmai Banana Association, introduced that a project of "Chengmai Characteristic Banana Smart Industrial Park" covering an area of 700,000 mu was completed on October 19, 2021, and this heavyweight industry is ready to come out.
"Eat to eat" edible bananas
In the "window of tropical fruits in the world", a kind of "banana" looks like a rhinoceros horn, with a long and slender shape and a big head. A banana weighs 2 to 3 kilograms. This kind of "banana" has a domineering name-rhinoceros horn banana, which is a staple food. Because of its high starch content, it is particularly anti-hungry, so it is also used as a staple food in many places in Africa.
Recently, machines roared in the Hainan Characteristic Tropical Fruit Industrial Park in dongshan town, Haikou City. Liang Chengdong, the head of Hainan Characteristic Tropical Fruit Industrial Park Base, told Hainan Daily that workers were cleaning up the staple bananas before they entered the park. In the future, the staple bananas will become one of the new exotic tropical fruit industries in the park. Liang Chengdong said that in the past, in the eyes of most people, bananas were a kind of fruit, but in some countries, bananas were still the staple food for three meals a day, and there were many cooking methods such as steaming, frying, roasting and boiling, which were not only delicious, but also nutritious.
Banana has changed from fruit to staple food, and the change of its function just reflects that people’s understanding of bananas is also advancing with the times. The record of "banana" in Huang Hua Ji Wen in the early Qing Dynasty is the beginning of people’s understanding and attention to banana edible. In fact, the excavation and utilization of ancient Lingnan plantain by people in past dynasties is very rich. Compendium of Materia Medica records that the medicinal value of banana is quite high, and its roots, leaves, fruits and banana juice have different medicinal values. As for the edible aspect of banana, Qunfangpu recorded its root’s "all-meat flavor". "Gui Hai Yu Heng Zhi" records that banana pulp can be used to feed children.
Moreover, in ancient times, banana cloth made of banana fiber was widely used in Guangdong, Guangxi and Fujian, and was used as a tribute. But in modern times, with the development of cotton and linen fabrics and the impact of foreign fabrics, banana fabrics almost disappeared in the market.
It is worth mentioning that in history, the ancients used banana leaves to write or practice calligraphy. However, because banana leaves are not well preserved, they will become dry and brittle after being left for a long time. So far, no remains of words on banana leaves have been found. However, in ancient literature, it was found that banana leaves were used instead of paper to write. For example, Tao Gu wrote Qing Yi Lu in the Northern Song Dynasty: "Huai Su lives in the eastern suburb of Lingling Temple. Treat banana. With tens of thousands. Take leaves instead of paper and write. No. It is called’ Green Temple’ and’ Planting Paper’. After that, Daozhou secretariat made a posthumous pursuit of Green Tianming. " From this point of view, the functions of ancient Lingnan banana are not only medicinal, edible, textile, fertilizer, but also writing paper. (Yan Lanqing)