Researchers have developed a novel filter, made from tannic-acid treated sawdust which may help reduce plastic pollution, while another approach has been presented to create a backyard-compostable bioplastic, using...
Search results for - banana
Nigel Chaffey
Botanists Pull Apart the Genes of Bananas to See How They Came Together
Banana genes reveal how they may have passed through other hybrid stages.
Alex Assiry
The Missing Plants of the Palaeolithic
Prehistoric peoples moved in a world where intimate knowledge of plants would have been vital, so why don't they appear in European Cave Art?
Alun Salt
Fascination of Fruits and Vegetables
Special edition of Fascination of Plant Day infographics.
Juniper Kiss
East African traditional bananas: the resources of an understated diversity
Banana cultivation is a long tradition for numerous communities in East Africa, growing particularly the robust diploid ‘Mchare’ variety in the Kilimanjaro and the triploid ‘Mutika’ in the Great Lakes region. Since the...
More plant secrets (please share)!
Nigel Chaffey examines a book that aims to plant the seed of botanical curiosity to see if it bears fruit.
A sweet story: modern sugarcanes originate from three ancestral genomes
New study identifies hybridisation and backcrossing events to have led to the modern sugarcane cultivars.
The poorly known Ethiopian crop Enset
Enset, a relative of the banana, provides the staple food for around 20 million Ethiopians, yet is barely known outside of the region.
Beets beat hidden viruses within in their genomes
Sugar beets (Beta vulgaris) contribute 14-20% of raw sucrose produced worldwide, whilst the rest of sugar production mainly comes from sugarcanes. Whilst sugarcanes are the “thirstiest crop” in the world, beets require...
Two reciprocal translocations in the burmannica group of M. acuminata
Banana cultivars are derived from hybridizations involving Musa acuminata subspecies. It divided into half a dozen or so subspecies. The current thought on domestication is that it was taken by human settlers when they...
Fi Gennu
የእንሰት ተክል በኢትዮጲያ፡ በአግባቡ ያልተጠና አካባቢያዊ ተጽእኖዎችን የሚቋቋም በስታርች የበለጸገ ሰብል
መግቢያ፡ እንሰት (በሳይንሳዊ አጠራሩ ኢንሰቴ ቬንትሪኮሰም፤ የሙሳሴ ቤተሰብ) በአፍሪካ የሚገኝና በዚህ ወቅት ከ20 ሚሊዮን በላይ ለሚሆኑ የኢትዮጲያ ዜጎች በዋና የምግብ ሰብልነት እያገለገለ ያለ ተክል ነዉ፡፡ የዱር እንሰት በብዛት በምእራቡና ደቡባዊ የአፍሪካ ክፍል የሚበቅል ሆኖ፤ የእንሰት ጂነስ ከኤዢያ እስከቻይና የተሰራጨ ቢሆንም በገበሬዉ ማሳ...
Plant food and sex (lots of sex!)
Sex on the Kitchen Table: The Romance of Plants and your Food by Norman C Ellstrand 2018. University of Chicago Press. What comes to mind at the mention of sex on the kitchen table? * Perhaps many different things –...
Does Viagra really help preserve flowers?
It is said that sildenafil citrate can help preserve flowers. Here's an experiment that you could do at home, but probably shouldn't, to find out.
