Scientists say the plant enset, an Ethiopian staple (主食), could be a new superfood and a lifesaver in the face of climate change. "This is a crop that can play a really important role in addressing food security and sustainable development," said a university professor in Awasa, Ethiopia.
Enset, or "false banana", is a close relative of the banana but is consumed only in one part of Ethiopia. The banana-like fruit of the plant is inedible (无法食用的), but the stems and roots can be processed to make porridge and bread.
However, Ethiopia is isolated (隔离) by dry lowlands, which are unsuitable for enset to grow. And the procedures for enset raising and preparing require special knowledge. Therefore, despite its wild relatives distributing across Africa, enset is only used as a crop in Ethiopia and has never been widely adopted elsewhere.
Using agricultural surveys and modelling work, scientists found the crop could potentially feed more than 100 million people and boost food security in Ethiopia and other African countries.
Study researcher Dr James Borrell, of the Royal Botanic Gardens, said planting enset as an alternative crop for tough times could help support food security. "It's got some really unusual characteristics that make it absolutely unique as a crop," he said. Reaching ten meters tall, as few as 15 enset plants can feed a person for a year. Also, it has flexible harvest times, stores well, and is relatively drought and disease tolerant. All these features have earned it the name, "the tree against hunger".
There is growing interest in seeking new plants to feed the world. Nearly half of all the calories we eat come from three species - rice, wheat, and corns. "We need to diversify the plants we use globally as a staple because all our eggs are in a very small basket at the moment," said Dr Borrell.
