Banana leaf

The banana leaf – dark green and about 3 feet - grows like a long and wide palm leaf and is commonly used to cover or warp foods in Asia. The leaf is a multipurpose item which can be used as a rain shield or to cover basket or basins of cooked.

It is valued in many parts of the world for its beauty and fragrances and it has many additional uses.

It has a light grassy and was like aroma that transfers to any food cooked in it and is used as the natural ‘aluminum foil’ of the East.

In Asian, banana leaf is a sensual steaming wrapper for rice, fish or meat smeared with some lemongrass, garlic and other herbs. It is frequently used to wrap foods for grilling, steaming or grilling directly over hot coals.

Eating food served on a banana leaf is more hygienic than eating food off plastic, steel or ceramic plates. Also, when meal is finished, the leaf can be disposed of in an environmental friendly way.

The banana leaves used for serving are cut form the whole leaves, with the first neater-length cuts from the broader end.

In India, the Parsi community, they still used banana leaves only for serving to Parsi guests at their weddings. The food served on the cut leaf is eaten with fingers.

Almost any type of meat, such as duck, chicken, beef and even fish or eel, can be chopped, seasoned and wrapped in banana leaves to be cooked.
Banana leaf

Banana Disease: Malayan leaf Spot

Banana Disease: Malayan leaf Spot
This is usually a minor disease in Fiji, Tonga, Western Samoa and the highlands of peninsular Malaysia and Papua New Guinea. Severe development occurs in areas of Fiji with > 1 m of annual rainfall where temperatures are below 24 degree C, and on some local cultivars in Papua New Guinea.

Symptoms are varies in the different locations. In Fiji, lesions on the upper leaf surface are diamond shape, light grey, 2 - 4 x 3 – 5.5 mm, and have 0.5 mm wide black borders. Profuse growth of the causal fungus, Haplobasidion muscle, occurs on the leaf undersurface.

In Malaysia, lesions have dark purple borders, are pale grey on the upper and pale brown on the lower surface, and are either ellipsoid (2 – 4 x 3 – 12 mm) or round (2 – 5 mm in diameter). Lesions are similar in Papua New Guinea, and large patches of confluent necrosis can develop. Symptoms develop as early as the second or third leaf on local ‘Mala’.

Single to six conidiophores of H.musae are produced at the ends of hyphae that arise through the epidermis on the leaf’s lower surface. They are straight or flexuous, pale brown, one to four celled and 50 – 110 x 4 – um. They terminate in a subglobose cell. Conidia are spherical, brown, verrucose, 4 – 6 um in diameter, and borne singly or in chains of two to five.

Although control measures usually are not needed, maneb was effective. Spray oil enhanced disease development.
Banana Disease: Malayan leaf Spot