A history of the plantain in five steps

Where did they come from?

Whilst plantains have become a staple food all across the world, its origins can be traced to South East Asia and parts of Oceania. Here, the two original plants that would become the first in a long family of edible fruits that we now know as plantains and bananas grew in the wild. Known by their scientific names Musa balbisiana and Musa acuminata, these two banana species would become the ancestors of many of the modern species that we still eat today.

What happened?

The history of plantains as a type of plant, and the cooking banana that we call a ‘plantain’ in particular, is a result of humans’ incredibly ability to come up with new ideas and adapt to their surroundings. As far back as 10,000 years ago, humans were cultivating and breeding plantain plants, combining the inedible Musa balbisiana plant, which was filled with seeds, with Musa acuminata, which was closer to the modern plantains and bananas we eat today. This makes plantains one of the earliest plants to ever be deliberately grown and eaten by humans, taking it from the wild and domesticating in the same way as an animal would be.

How did it come to Columbia?

Plantains were not originally found in Columbia, or in any part of the Americas. The plant was introduced there and in the Caribbean, where it is now also a staple food for many, by Portuguese explorers, who had originally found the plant in Africa and brought some back to grow themselves. Even the plant’s presence in Africa has its own story to tell. Despite only being found in the wild natively in South East Asia, plantains were able to spread throughout the ancient world through trade routes, where plantains would have been valuable for the ease of preparing them to create a filling and delicious meal, as well as the long shelf life of dried plantains. It had reached India through trade by the time the famous Greek conqueror Alexander the Great invaded it in 327 BC, and even he recognised their value and brought them back home with him. 

Who ate them?

When plantains were introduced to the Americas, they were a crucial food for Africans who had been taken from their homes and brought there as slaves by European colonists. Plantains were already a staple in Africa by that point, and for the slaves who had been taken from their homes and forced to work they were a familiar food that they already knew how to grow and safely cook, and a rare reminder of home in a cruel and brutal environment. From this origin point, African recipes and ways of cooking Plantain spread across the Americas, taking root in the Caribbean and Central A

What about now?

Nowadays, plantains are eaten all over the world as a staple food. In fact, they’re so widely eaten that they’ve become the fourth most important food to be produced across the world after rice, wheat and milk. They’re a crucial part of peoples’ everyday diets in Central & South America, the Caribbean and in Africa, where they’ve been eaten for centuries at this point. They’re also enjoyed as snacks in the rest of the world, including places like Japan and the UAE, where Loro Crisps offers our plantain crisps in supermarkets.