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Take a look at these pictures. How many species of bananas can you identify at first glance?
Pisang raja.
Image via Miami Fruit
Pisang berangan.
Image via Flickr
Pisang emas (left) and pisang lemak manis (right).
Image via Suria Helang Lui
Pisang rastali or kelat.
Image via Wikipedia
Cavendish bananas.
Image via Mommyasia
These are the more common types of bananas found in local markets, and have probably sat in your fruit basket now and again.
Now, imagine walking into your nearest fruit stall to pick up a new bunch of bananas…
Image via Specialty Produce
… and seeing these hanging there:
Image via Reddit
Would you think they are real?
Meet these blue beauties. Known as Blue Java bananas, their striking appearance will make you question whether they’re real, or a hoax.
Image via Fine Dining Lovers
While most of us are familiar with our local yellow bananas, the peel of this blue banana species has a slight blue hue.
Are they naturally blue?
Image via ExoticPlants.ca
Before they ripen, Blue Java bananas have an unusual silvery blue or blue-green peel due to their natural wax coating. However, this blue tinge fades slowly as they mature, and becomes a pale yellow.
Image via Bananas.org
Meanwhile, their flesh turns into a creamy white colour.
Image via ssl-images-amazon.com
Where are they grown?
Image via Wide Open Eats
The Blue Java banana is a rare hybrid of Musa acuminata and Musa balbisiana, and is known to survive cold climates as low as -7?C.
They are mainly cultivated in Hawaii and some parts of Southeast Asia and Central America since the 1920s. This banana species goes by the name ‘Hawaiian banana’ in Fiji, ‘Krie’ in the Philippines, and ‘Cenizo’ in certain parts of Central America.
Fun fact: They are said to have the taste and consistency of vanilla ice cream or custard
Image via Vision Times
According to this Twitter user and HuffPost, the taste of this banana is comparable to vanilla ice cream.
Blue Java bananas have natural compounds in their soft and creamy flesh, giving them a distinct flavour that has hints of vanilla. Hence, they are called ‘ice cream bananas’ in Hawaii, and are among the tastiest varieties of bananas in the world.
However, not everyone agrees that the Blue Java banana tastes like vanilla ice cream
Someone tasted the banana in a YouTube video, and his review makes it seem like the Internet has grossly exaggerated the claims about this unusual blue fruit.
At least pisang merah has red skin that stays red
Pisang merah.
Image via Healthline
Just like other bananas, the flesh of the red banana is a normal yellow colour.
Image via WinNetNews
On the other hand, there’s a photo of a completely blue banana circulating the Internet, and we’re going bananas trying to figure it out.
Image via @ThamKhaiMeng (Twitter)
Guess you’ll have to actually see and taste it to believe it!
What do you think? Is everything we know about the Blue Java banana real or not?
Image via GIPHY