Can bananas and plantains cross-polinate?

Question

what is the difference between the two?

Answer 1

Both fall in the genus Musa of the family Musaceae.

So they can cross pollinate.

To the American consumer, ";banana"; seems a simple name for the yellow fruits so abundantly marketed for consumption raw, and ";plantain"; for the larger, more angular fruits intended for cooking but also edible raw when fully ripe.

In India, there is no distinction between bananas and plantains. All cultivars are merely rated as to whether they are best for dessert or for cooking.

Answer 2

A banana is a sweet fruit that is eaten raw and ripe. A plantain is a starchy fruit that is usually eaten cooked and either ripe or unripe.

Yes, they can cross pollinate.

In fact, researchers are delving into areas like genetic manipulation and cross-pollination to produce resistant banana hybrids.

Occasionally, cross-pollination by wild types will result in a number of seeds in a normally seedless variety

Some works on cross pollintion:

http://musalit.inibap.org/byindex_result...