Plantain

A starchy relative of the dessert banana, plantains are cultivars of hybrid Musa species believed domesticated in Southeast Asia and New Guinea, in the same broad region and period as the sweeter banana varieties grown for direct eating. Unlike dessert bananas, plantains are high in starch and low in sugar when green, and are typically cooked, fried, boiled or roasted, rather than eaten raw. The crop is a major dietary staple across West and Central Africa, as well as parts of Latin America and the Caribbean, providing a large share of daily caloric intake for hundreds of millions of people in these regions.