Matoke

East African Highland bananas
A bunch of East African Highland bananas
SpeciesMusa acuminata
Cultivar groupMusa acuminata (AAA-EA) or the Mutika/Lujugira subgroup of the AAA group[1]
OriginUganda
Cultivar group membersSee text
Matoke market in Kampala, Uganda
Matoke seller in Uganda

Matoke, locally also known as matooke, amatooke in Buganda (Central Uganda), ekitookye in southwestern Uganda, ekitooke in western Uganda, kamatore in Lugisu (Eastern Uganda), ebitooke in northwestern Tanzania, igitoki in Rwanda, Burundi and by the cultivar name East African Highland banana, are a group of starchy triploid banana cultivars, originating from the African Great Lakes. The fruit is harvested green, carefully peeled, and then cooked and often mashed or pounded into a meal. In Uganda and Rwanda, the fruit is steam-cooked, and the mashed meal is considered a national dish in both countries.[2]

Matoke bananas are a staple food crop in Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania[3] and other Great Lakes countries. They are also known as the Mutika/Lujugira subgroup.

The medium-sized green fruits, which are of a specific group of banana, the East African Highland bananas (Musa AAA-EA),[4][5][6] are known in the Bantu languages of Uganda and Western Kenya as matoke.

Cooking bananas have long been and still are a common staple crop around the Lake Victoria area of Kenya and Uganda, and in the West and Kilimanjaro regions of Tanzania.[7]

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference ploetz was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Tufariello, Maria; Mita, Giovanni; Bleve, Gianluca (2016-10-26), "Biotechnology can Improve a Traditional Product as Table Olives", Products from Olive Tree, InTech, doi:10.5772/64687, ISBN 978-953-51-2724-6
  3. ^ "Tanzania Statistical Abstract". www.nbs.go.tz. Retrieved 2017-03-28.
  4. ^ Karamura, D. and Mgenzi, B. 2004. On-farm conservation of Musa diversity in the Great Lakes region of East Africa. African Crop Science Journal 12(1):75-83.
  5. ^ Karamura, D., Mgenzi, B., Karamura, E. and Sharrock, S. 2004. Exploiting indigenous knowledge for the management and maintenance of Musa biodiversity on-farm. African Crop Science Journal 12(1).
  6. ^ Mgenzi, S.R.B., Mshaghuley, I.M., Staver, C. and Nkuba, J.M. 2005. A study on the analysis of Musa processing businesses and their support environment in Tanzania. A paper presented to the Musa processing businesses and their support environment workshop, Manila, Philippines 10-13 Oct. 2005. INIBAP [online], accessed 2011 June 14 from: "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-08-24. Retrieved 2011-06-14.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link).
  7. ^ Raschke, V., Oltersdorf, U., Elmadfa, I., Wahlqvist, M.L., Cheema, B.S.B. and Kouris-Blazos, A. 2007. Content of a novel online collection of traditional east African food habits (1930s – 1960s): data collected by the Max-Planck-Nutrition Research Unit, Bumbuli, Tanzania. Asia Pac. J. Clin. Nutr. 16(1):140-151 [online]. Accessed 2011 June 14 from: http://apjcn.nhri.org.tw/server/APJCN/Volume16/vol16.1/Finished/Raschke.pdf.