#falsebanana

Plant of the Day

Thursday 23 January 2020

Grown by many Ethiopian farmers as a staple crop Ensete ventricosum (enset, Ethiopian banana, Abyssinian banana, false banana) has over 300 varieties. This plant is principally grown as a starchy food but also as a source of fibres. The leaves can be used as plates, provide fibrous ‘wet wipes’, be processed as a food called kocho fermented from the leaf stalks (15 days fermenting above the ground and 15 days under the ground) with addition herbs and as bulla eaten as a porridge. In the U.K. ornamental varieties of this species are used to add an exotic foliage effect to plantings in the summer.