By Emma Batha
LONDON, Nov 28 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – Described as “a banana on steroids”, enset may be the superfood you’ve never heard of, let alone tasted, but scientists say it could be a life saver for a warming world.
The plant, which grows up to 10 metres (39 ft), is a staple for 20 million people in the Ethiopian Highlands who turn it into bread and porridge, construction materials, packaging, cattle feed and medicine.
“People are saying this is a new wonder crop,” said James Borrell, a scientist at London’s Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, which is researching the plant’s potential.
“It’s amazingly resilient. It’s said to be very drought tolerant and we’re trying to test that,” he told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.
Enset, which has been dubbed “the tree against hunger”, was among a shopping list of unusual ingredients spotlighted by leading London chefs at an event on Wednesday night organised by Food Forever, an initiative promoting food diversity.
Although a close relative of the banana, enset’s orange fruit is full of bullet-like seeds and inedible.
Instead, starchy tissue from the trunk and giant underground corm – the bulbs can weigh up to 100kg (220lb) – is turned into a pulp and buried in a pit to ferment before being made into a chewy flatbread called kocho.
