View source for Plantain

:''This article is about the fruit.  For the small herb, see [[Plantago]]''

{{Taxobox
| color = lightgreen
| name = Plantain
| image = RipePlantain.jpg
| image_width = 250px
| image_caption = Ripe plantains at market.
| regnum = [[Plant]]ae
| divisio = [[Flowering plant|Magnoliophyta]]
| classis = [[Liliopsida]]
| ordo = [[Zingiberales]]
| familia = [[Musaceae]]
| genus = ''[[Musa (Musaceae)|Musa]]''
| subdivision_ranks = Species
| subdivision = ''Musa × paradisiaca''

}}

[[Image:Masaya- mound of bananas.jpg|thumb|240px|right|A load of plantains in Masaya, Nicaragua]]

The '''plantain''' (pronounced [plan-tane] or [plan-tain]<ref>[[Oxford English Dictionary]], second edition, 1989</ref>) is a species of the genus ''[[Musa (genus)|Musa]]'' and is generally used for cooking, in contrast to the soft, sweet [[banana]] (which is sometimes called the dessert banana).  The population of North America was first introduced to the ''banana plantain'', and colloquially in the United States and Europe the term "banana" refers to that variety.  The word "banana" is often used incorrectly to describe other plantain varieties as well, when in fact the generic name is "plantain" and the specific varieties are ''cooking plantain'', ''banana plantain'', ''bocadillo plantain'' (the little one), etc.  All members of the genus ''Musa'' are indigenous to the tropical region of South-east Asia, including the Malay Archipelago and northern Australia<ref>[http://agroforestry.net/tti/Musa-banana-plantain.pdf Musa species (banana and plantain)]</ref>.

Plantains tend to be firmer and lower in sugar content than dessert bananas and are used either when green or under-ripe (and therefore starchy) or overripe (and therefore sweet). Plantains are a [[staple food]] in the [[tropical]] regions of the world, treated in much the same way as [[potato]]es and with a similar neutral flavour and texture when unripe. They are grown as far north as [[Florida]], the Caribbean, the [[Canary Islands]], [[Madeira]], [[Egypt]], and southern [[Japan]] or [[Taiwan]] and as far south as [[KwaZulu-Natal Province|KwaZulu-Natal]] and southern [[Brazil]]. The largest exporter of plantains to the United States is [[Colombia]]. It is assumed that the Portuguese Franciscan friars were responsible for the introduction of plantains to the [[Caribbean]] islands and other parts of the [[Americas]]. The Spaniards, who saw a similarity to the [[Platanus|plane tree]] that grows in Spain, gave the plantain its Spanish name, '''''plátano'''''.

{{Main|List of banana and plantain diseases}}