A noteworthy banana: Plátano de Canarias

The Plátano de Canaria can be translated as ‘Banana from the Canary (Islands)’ and it is both the name of the banana and the trade name under which these bananas are marketed. This banana is also noteworthy because the European Commission agreed in November 2013 to enter the name in the register of protected designations of origin and protected geographical indications. It simply means that no other country may call its bananas Plátano de Canaria.

Banana is the most important crop in the Canary Islands and, after tourism, is the single most important factor contributing to economic growth.

Because the Plátano de Canaria is a general term, it encompasses several banana varieties. The species that grows abundantly on the Canary Islands is the Cavendish (Musa acuminata x M. balbisiana). Other planted cultivars are Gran Enana (Grande Naine), Zelig and Gruesa, a local type of Dwarf Cavendish.

The bananas were introduced on the Canary Island by returning Portuguese explorers. Once the crop was successfully settled on the islands, the visiting Spanish explorers, using the islands as a stop, introduced them to the New World.