Brunei Today - Vol.6 - No.5 - Fruits

Aug 26, 2026

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Brunei Today June 1994 (Vol.6, No.5) presents a feature focused on bananas, explaining their familiarity in Brunei Darussalam and their global importance among tropical fruits. The article traces the banana’s endemic history in Southeast Asia, botanical structure and cultivation from suckers, and growth cycle to flowering and fruiting. It also describes typical fruit measurements and varieties, including pisang emas, pisang tanduk, and dew banana, and highlights culinary uses and common serving practices.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryLifestyle

FormatPDF

Pages23

Reading Time35 min

AccessFree to download

The fruit that people love to eat

Crown

Dew

Cucur

Banana varieties and everyday uses

BRUNEI TODAYJUNE 1994 BRUNEI TODAY VOL.6 NO.5 JUNE 1994 Front cover A bunch of ripe 'pisang emas'orgolden bananas. Inside of front cover The erect flowers of a wildbanana. Inside of back cover A kite representing a humanfigure. Editor Mohammed Deli bin Ahmad Layout Pg Haji Abd Hamid bin PgHaj Abas Photo Editor Johari bin Buntar Brunei Today is publishedquarterly by the InformationDepartment,Prime Minister'sOffice and printed by theGovernment Printing Depart-ment,Ministry of Law,BrunelDarussalam. A typical road-side stall.Bruneian kites.International KitesExhibition.Maturing bananas. The fruit that people By Ishak Haji Othman IKE any country in theworld,Brunei Darussalamhas a wide variety of fruitsbut none is more familiar orpopular as the banana. This is hardly surprising giventha fact that it is considered to bethe most important tropical fruitand ranks second only to grapesin world production of fruits. It is not known when thebanana,which is referred to boththe plant and its fruit,was firstcultivated in the country exceptthat it thrives naturally even inthe wild.What is certain is thatit is endemic to Southeast Asiaand has been grown in the regionfor millenia.Global-wise it isbelieved to be one of the world'searliest tropical fruits becauseavailable records have shownthat it has been in cultivation forthousands of years. # Crown The banana,which belongs tothe family Musaceae,is a largeherbaceous plant with perennialroot or rhizome.It is from thisroot that the plant is perpetuatedby sprouts or suckers. Planting the sucker or corm asit is also called biologically is notmerely burying it in the groundfor some Bruneians who followage-old beliefs that say theplanter should not look up lestthe banana-palm growsabnormally tall;should be bare-chested if a thin peel of the fruitis desired;and should choose thetime to concide with low tide love to eat A banana plantation in one ofthe villages in the country. when many pebbles are exposedon the beach as this wouldensure abundant harvest. When fully grown,the plantstem reaches a height of threemetres or more.It is topped bya crown of six to eight broadleaves of up to three metres long,and each leave has a thick stalkand midrib. The plant produces flowersand perfects its fruits within tenmonths after cultivation beforethe stem dies.The inflorescencecomes out in big spike withmaroon bracts and develop intoa bunch of fruits that weighs an average of 11 kilograms,although it is not unusual forindividual bunches to tip thescale at more than 18 kilograms.The length of the fruits variesfrom 10 to 30 centimetres or from4 to 12 inches.In comparison,the wild species,which growswell particularly in open jungles,bears fewer and smaller fruitswith seeds. Dew Incidentally,the banana-palm's system of bearing fruitonce only before the stem dieshas become the topic of a Malayproverb.For example,when The flowers come out inlarge spike,which is knownlocally as tungkul or jantungpisang or the heart of thebanana,and gradually turninto fruits. A bunch of maturingbananas. The biggest known variety inexistence in BruneiDarussalam,namely pisangtanduk or the horn banana. even toothless people can takewithout difficulty.Althoughbecoming yellow seems to be therule among ripe bananas,thereis one species called pisangembun or dew banana thatremains green throughout.Onecan tell it is ripe by the size of thefruit and tenderness of its skin. The banana is usually eatenraw after meals or at anytimeonce it is ripe.Like any fruit,itis nutritious and is quite oftenserved in hotels and restaurantsas desserts in one form or other. Cucur The banana,which is pisang inMalay,comes in many speciesand are distinguished only inBrunei Darussalam and the restof the Malay-speaking world byadjectives because pisang is thegeneric names for all kinds.Thuspisang emas is golden banana inEnglish and is so called probablyin account of the colour of theflesh or

FAQs

How are bananas typically eaten and used in Brunei cuisine?

Bananas are usually eaten raw after meals or any time they are ripe. They are also served as desserts in hotels and restaurants and used for cakes and fritters.

Aug 26, 2026

Upload by Violet