Maoli-Popoulu subgroup
Maoli-Popoulu subgroup
Ploidy level
3x
Genome group
Subgroup
Cultivars
Distribution
Pacific
The Maoli-Popoulu subgroup is named after the Maoli and Popoulu bananas domesticated in the Pacific region, possibly in the Bismarck Archipelago-Solomon Islands area1 .
Along with Iholena bananas, they are sometimes referred to as Pacific plantains, a practice that perpetuates the confusion surrounding the word plantain. Plantain is the name of a subgroup, not a generic word for cooking bananas, even if they belong to the AAB genome group.
Morphological characteristics
The cultivars in this subgroup are best recognized by their sausage-shape fruits. The fruits of the Popoulu bananas tend to fatter and shorter than those of the Maoli ones.
Types and cultivars
References
1
De Langhe, E., Perrier, X., Donohue, M. and Denham, T.P. 2015. The Original Banana Split: Multi-disciplinary implications of the generation of African and Pacific Plantains in Island Southeast Asia. Ethnobotany Research and Applications 14:299-312.