33 Plantain Facts: You'll Go 'Bananas' Over This Popular Plant!

Plantains are species of fruit that belong to the same family as bananas.

Plantains and bananas even look the same and have many similar traits. However, these two fruits are actually quite different.

Plantains are healthier than bananas as they contain more vitamin B6 and potassium. You cannot and should not eat raw plantains. The healthiest way to eat plantains is by making boiled and baked plantains. You can also make plantain chips, but they are less healthy.

Read more to know more nutrition facts about plantains and if you like this article, then also check out what do plants need to survive and where do artichokes grow.

Nutritional Values Of Plantains

Plantains are a great source of nutrition, and they contain reasonable amounts of potassium, vitamins, and many other helpful, healthy nutrients. Even when they are baked or boiled, they can be included in a healthy diet.

Plantains belong to the same family as bananas, the Musaceae family. The genus Musa includes edible plantains, bananas, and around 70 Musa species.

Ripe, unripe, baked, fried, and all kinds of plantains contain high amounts of minerals, vitamins, complex carbohydrates, and more. It's a staple food for many people who have been eating a healthy balanced diet for centuries.

Nutritionally, cooked plantains are quite the same as potatoes in terms of calories. Still, plantains are rich sources of more minerals, like potassium, magnesium, fiber, and certain vitamins, like vitamin B6, C, or A.

3.5 oz (100 g) of raw green plantains include 152 calories, 0% calcium, sodium, and fat, 3% protein, 4% iron, 9% potassium, and a total of 13% carbohydrate, including 8% dietary fiber.

The 3.5 oz (100 g) of raw yellow plantains include 122 calories, 0% calcium, sodium, and vitamin D, 1% fat, 3% iron and protein, 10% potassium, and a total of 12% carbohydrate, including 6% dietary fiber.

Among boiled plantains, 3.5 oz (100 g) of yellow plantain contains 179 calories, and 3.5 oz (100 g) of green plantain contains 121 calories, 0% fat, sodium, and calcium, 2% iron and protein, 6% potassium, and a total of 11% carbohydrate including 9% dietary fiber.

3.5 oz (100 g) of baked yellow plantain contains 155 calories, 0% fat, sodium, calcium, and vitamin D, 2% iron, 3% protein, 10% potassium, and 15% carbohydrate, including 8% dietary carbohydrate fiber.

3.5 oz (100 g) of fried green plantain contains 0% calcium and sodium, 3% protein, 4% iron, 10% potassium, a total of 15% fat that includes 18% saturated fats, and a total of 18% carbohydrate including 12% dietary fiber.

3.5 oz (100 g) of plantain chips contain 531 calories, 0% vitamin D, 1% calcium, 5% protein, 6% iron, 9% sodium, 17% potassium, a total of 38% fat that includes 42% saturated fats and a total of 23% carbohydrate including 12% dietary fiber.

In total, in 3.5 oz (100 g) of plantain, 0.5 oz (15 g) sugar is found, and fresh plantains contain much more potassium than bananas. In 3.5 oz (100 g) of banana, 5.5 grains (358 mg) of potassium, and in 3.5 oz (100 g) of plantain, 7.7 grains (499 mg) of potassium can be found.

Cooking Procedures Of Plantains

There are many ways to cook and eat plantains, starting from boiled, baked to fried, or making chips. Additionally, however they may be cooked as they pack a lot of nutrients, so including them in your dishes would be the right choice.

Plantains cannot be and should not be eaten raw. However, they can be eaten at any stage once they start ripening. Plantain is a fruit, not a vegetable, but they're more in league with tomatoes rather than bananas, so they can be a little harder to peel.

Many people cut yellow and green plantains into thin slices to fry and eat them like chips. Fried plantains are pretty famous even though they are not really healthy. Ripe plantains can be made into ripe plantain boronía or arepas, which is actually eggplant and mashed plantain. Many restaurants serve fried plantains as a side dish soaked in grease.

Green raw plantains or unripe plantains are cooked and used in savory dishes, mainly because before plantains ripen, green plantains contain much more starch than any typical dessert banana. The unripe green fruit also contains more starch than ripe ones.

That's why they are fried and boiled to use in a savory dish. The ripe plantains have a mildly sweet taste, so to make desserts out of the ripe plantains, many people cook them with sugar or coconut juice for flavoring.

Another way plantains can be used for cooking is by drying them. Once they are dry enough, the dried plantains are then ground to use as meals, and lastly, they are further refined to turn into plantain flour.

Sliced and fried plantains are a very popular dish in the Caribbeans and Latin America. Any form of cooked plantains is quite popular in Africa, South and Central America, Southeast Asia, and Caribbeans.

In Nigeria, plantains are eaten roasted, fried, and boiled. There is a food named 'boli' in Nigeria, which is roasted plantain that people eat with groundnut or palm oil.

There are many more ways to cook plantains, like using them as side dishes for meat and vegetable stews or can be grilled aside any fish. There are many paleo-friendly or gluten-free recipes, like paleo pancakes, where plantains can be used.

Remember that when you're using ripe plantains to make desserts or making plantain chips fried in oil and salted, they can't be included in healthy diets.

Health-related Benefits Of Plantains

Whether ripe, unripe, raw, or cooked, plantains are all undeniably healthy for you. They can be good for cholesterol, blood pressure, digestion, immune system, and more.

If boiled or baked, then half a cup of plantain contains about 0.1 oz (3 g) of resistant starch. Resistant starch is a kind of healthy carb that boosts metabolism and burns fat.

However, even these healthy plantains can become less so if you cook them with high levels of sugar, fat, or a lot of oil. In that case, you will only gain weight, and the risks of cancer, heart disease, or diabetes will increase.

Plantains contain high amounts of dietary fiber to be included in a high-fiber diet. This fiber can help you control weight if you're obese or overweight.

This fiber reduces your risk of diverticulitis disease in which small pouches or hemorrhoids can occur in your large intestine. This fiber increases digestion, manages cholesterol, and gives you the feeling of fullness. Additionally, it also helps with bowel regularity and prevents constipation.

Many people grind plantains and make flour to cook or bake it into street foods or snacks. However, if the plantains or the flour are not kept or stored correctly, that can cause illness.

Plantains contain relatively high amounts of carbohydrates, so they can cause your blood sugar to spike. That's why people with diabetes need to watch the amount of plantain they're eating. They also contain low amounts of sodium and high amounts of potassium.

High blood pressure is usually caused by a lack of potassium and excess sodium. That's why plantains help maintain body fluids and cells which control your blood pressure and heart rate.

Plantains contain reasonable amounts of vitamin C that can help you fulfill your daily intake of vitamin C. Vitamin C acts as an antioxidant that can help you boost your immune system. Many studies have revealed that people with stomach, breast, esophagus, colon, lung and other cancers have lower vitamin C blood plasma concentrations.

However, remember that plantains and bananas come from the same botanical family, and the allergies that occur from the fruits can overlap. Hence, if you have an allergic reaction to bananas, talk to your healthcare provider before eating plantains.

Fun Facts About Plantains

When you see a plantain, you might mistake it for a banana, and even though they belong to the same family of plants, they are very different. That's why you should know these facts below about plantains.

Green unripe plantains contain more rigid pulp and a lot of starch. When they start to ripen, the pulp begins to soften, and some of this starch turns into sugar.

Plantains may have originated in southeast Asia. Even today, plantains can mainly be found in tropical countries worldwide, like Egypt, India, tropical America, and Africa. That's why they are an important part of the cuisines of Africa, Asia, and South America.

In today's world, many types of plantains can be found. Most of these are hybrids of two wild species, Musa balbisiana and Musa acuminata. At the same time, it's thought that the two main groups of plantains may have originated from the French plantain and horn plantain species.

The French plantains grow in the islands of the Pacific and Indonesia. Plantains account for around 85% of total banana cultivation globally. Plantains are an important beer-making crop even in a few parts of east Africa, mainly in eastern and central Uganda and Tanzania.

The plantain stalk is the stem of the plant. The banana stalk or the plantain stalk first produces a large plantain flower cluster which later dies. Then several plantains grow in its place. Before the banana or plantain stalk dies, it can be used for quite a few things.

However, this flower doesn't serve any function to make a banana or a plantain fruit as the fruit self-pollinates through parthenogenesis. The banana and plantain trees in cultivation today are hybrids known as polyploids.

The mechanism in these plants works the same way as seedless watermelons. That's why fruits would still be produced even if you took off the flowers of the plantain or banana tree. That's why in some cultures, people eat the flowers and later the fruit.

Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created many interesting family-friendly facts for everyone to enjoy! If you liked our suggestions for plantain facts, then why not take a look at what are tubers or how do plants grow?