(Enset, a.k.a. “false banana”) an underutilised food security crop | Hacker News Reader

(Enset, a.k.a. “false banana”) an underutilised food security crop

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29 pointsKaibeezy9 comments

Basic info: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ensete

Interesting that the fruit is inedible; it's the roots and stalk that are used.

Seems like that's a disadvantage, since the plant would otherwise be perennial (if you didn't need to dig it all up to eat it). I guess if it also grows wild it may not take a lot of care.

I don't know how this plant works, but this is an 'it depends' situation in the general case. Some edible 'roots' on plants are more like tubers than roots, and in theory you can dig the plant up at dormancy, cherry-pick a couple of the most edible looking bits, and plop it back in the ground.

With some wild-gathered edible bulbs, the act of digging up the central bulb ends up fragmenting offsets (and pushing them a bit away from the former center of mass). For those plants that have co-evolved with humans, like cammassia, it's claimed that over the long run you get more and healthier plants by this sort of selective harvesting.

There are also plants that can grow from root divisions, including a few noteworthy pernicious weeds. Digging up 'the plant' invariably leaves some rather large side roots in the ground, several of which might become independent plants, again radiating out from the original central stalk. I have the vaguest of recollection that burdock has this quality, but don't quote me on that. Comfrey definitely does this but it's not really edible, root or stalk (it has some nasty oil soluble alkaloids that your liver will not appreciate).

The related banana shrub propagates saplings at it roots. Home growers here in Kerala harvest one bunch, cut off that stem (and sometimes eat it) and wait for next sapling. I tried to Google if same is true for Emset but this is the only pic that suggests self propagation https://www.feedipedia.org/content/enset-ensete-ventricosum-...

Looks like a banana, tastes like a potato.

https://www.atlasobscura.com/foods/enset-kocho-ethiopia

> It looks like a banana plant, harvests like a root vegetable, and tastes like flatbread. Though the enset is a technical cousin of the banana, this tree offers a food that is much more potato-like. English-speakers—feeling betrayed by the enset’s misleading appearance—decided to call it “the false banana.”

Underutilised for good reasons. Ensete has the potential to destroy the much more valuable banana crops.

I bring back about 10 kilos of enset powder (kocho) every time I go to Ethiopia. It’s an incredibly healthy food.

What's the benefits gained by fermentation? Judging by South Indian fermented "breads", less calories, more probiotics, more vitamin b.

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