Edible Seeded Banana (Musa Acuminata, Chuối Hột) Plants in Texas

I bought a seeded banana (musa acuminata) sucker from a Florida nursery and planted it in my backyard around 18 months ago. This is a wild or parental type of cavendish banana. It is a fast growing plant and has produced many suckers. In Vietnamese cuisine, certain seeded banana plants are more prized than regular eating bananas’. They said the stems, flowers and even seeded green fruits taste better. My family has not had a chance to try the wild banana flowers or seeded green fruits, because the plants were frozen last winter then grew back. But we have eaten the stems steadily since the spring.

When chopping down a banana plant, I would avoid contact with the fluid from the trunk. I normally let it rest outside until all the fluid has run off. You do not want the banana fluid on your clothes or inside the house, because it would be impossible to remove.

Wild seeded banana plant (musa acuminata, chuối hột), chopped down in Texas

We only eat the tender parts, true stem and inner sheaths, of the banana trunk. After slicing the inner parts of the trunk, we would wash them in water with a little salt and lime juice to prevent from turning brown.

True stem & inner sheaths of banana trunk

Sliced banana stem & sheaths

The tender stem and sheaths have the crispiness of lettuce, but taste slightly sweeter. My family usually makes salads and use it in noodle soups.

Banana stem salad with shrimps & pork belly

Banana stem in noodle soup, bun bo Hue

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