TY - JOUR
T1 - The original banana split: Multi-disciplinary implications of the generation of african and pacific plantains in Island Southeast Asia
AU - De Langhe, Edmond
AU - Perrier, Xavier
AU - Donohue, Mark
AU - Denham, Tim
PY - 2015
Y1 - 2015
N2 - Traditional starchy banana cultivation in the humid tropics
is dominated by two widespread, but geographically
discrete, groups of AAB cultivars: plantains in Africa and
maoli-popo`ulu in the Pacific. Both AAB subgroups exhibit
exceptionally high cultivar diversity due to multiple
somatic mutations, and yet both subgroups have relatively
similar genetic origins. Although both cultivar groups originated
within a region defined by the Philippines, Eastern
Indonesia, and New Guinea, the precise area of origin for
each AAB group within this region is different. Significantly,
the distribution of each sub-group is mutually exclusive:
traditional cultivation of maoli-popo`ulu cultivars is not
attested to the West of the region and of plantain cultivars
to the East. On the basis of botanical data, we argue that
the original plantain hybrids were probably formed in the
Philippines, while basic maoli-popo`ulu were formed in
the Bismarck Archipelago and the Solomon Islands. The
generation of these two AAB subgroups shed light on human
interactions within Island Southeast Asia before 3000
cal BP, for which there is currently only limited archaeological
evidence.
AB - Traditional starchy banana cultivation in the humid tropics
is dominated by two widespread, but geographically
discrete, groups of AAB cultivars: plantains in Africa and
maoli-popo`ulu in the Pacific. Both AAB subgroups exhibit
exceptionally high cultivar diversity due to multiple
somatic mutations, and yet both subgroups have relatively
similar genetic origins. Although both cultivar groups originated
within a region defined by the Philippines, Eastern
Indonesia, and New Guinea, the precise area of origin for
each AAB group within this region is different. Significantly,
the distribution of each sub-group is mutually exclusive:
traditional cultivation of maoli-popo`ulu cultivars is not
attested to the West of the region and of plantain cultivars
to the East. On the basis of botanical data, we argue that
the original plantain hybrids were probably formed in the
Philippines, while basic maoli-popo`ulu were formed in
the Bismarck Archipelago and the Solomon Islands. The
generation of these two AAB subgroups shed light on human
interactions within Island Southeast Asia before 3000
cal BP, for which there is currently only limited archaeological
evidence.
U2 - 10.17348/era.14.0.299-312
DO - 10.17348/era.14.0.299-312
M3 - Article
VL - 14
SP - 299
EP - 312
JO - Ethnobotony Research and Applications
JF - Ethnobotony Research and Applications
ER -