Going Bananas in Papua New Guinea: A preliminary study of starch granule morphotypes in Musaceae fruit

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dc.contributor.authorLentfer, Carol J.
dc.date.accessioned2009-09-17T22:43:49Z
dc.date.available2009-09-17T22:43:49Z
dc.date.issued2009
dc.descriptionresearch
dc.description.abstractStarch granules can be well preserved in a variety of archaeological contexts, for example, in residues and sediments. Therefore, starch analysis has potential to provide another means of tracking the exploitation, dispersal and domestication of Musa bananas and Ensete. Starch granule morphotypes from fruits of Ensete glaucum and wild and cultivated Australimusa and Eumusa bananas were analyzed in this preliminary study. Numerous starch granule morphotypes were present in every sample analyzed. One hundred and nine morphotypes, representing 38 morphotype groups (variants) were described. Of these, several are specific to the samples analyzed and others occurred in more than one sample. They can be used to discriminate between different genera, sections, species and cultivars. Raphides were also numerous in wild Australimusa bananas. Although additional studies are required to determine levels of specificity, this preliminary study shows that starch analysis (and raphide presence and abundance) can be used in a similar way to phytolith analysis in the identification of Musaceae and has extremely good potential as a tool for tracing the prehistory of bananas in the archaeological record.
dc.identifier.citationLentfer CJ. 2009. Going bananas in Papua New Guinea: a preliminary study of starch granule morphotypes in Musaceae fruit. Ethnobotany Research and Applications 7:217-238.
dc.identifier.issn1547-3465
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10125/12516
dc.language.isoen-US
dc.publisherUniversity of Hawaii at Manoa
dc.subjectPapua New Guinea
dc.subjectMusaceae fruit
dc.titleGoing Bananas in Papua New Guinea: A preliminary study of starch granule morphotypes in Musaceae fruit
dc.typeArticle
dc.type.dcmiText

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2009 - Volume 7 : Ethnobotany Research and Applications