Details Top

Internal ID UUID6440013718985100310277
Scientific name Musa textilis
Authority Née
First published in Anales Ci. Nat. 4: 123 (1801)

Ethnobotanical Use Top

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General Uses Top

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Common products: Abacá fibre (Manila hemp), rope and twine, high‑strength paper pulp for security papers (e.g., banknotes), tea‑bag and filter media, specialty packaging, cigarette paper, fibre‑reinforced composites, and craft items such as hats, mats and textiles.

Industrial and craft applications: The fibre is employed for marine rope, mooring lines and other ropes because of its high tensile strength, low elasticity and good water resistance. It is also used to produce fine‑grade paper for currency, security documents and tea‑bag paper, and as a reinforcement in polymer and concrete composites for automotive interiors and construction panels. It is also employed as a geotextile for erosion‑control mats and as a component of acoustic and thermal insulation panels. Abacá fibre is fashioned into handicraft items including hats, mats and decorative textiles.

Wood and fibre: The usable material is the bast fibre derived from the leaf sheaths of the pseudostem; the fibre strands can be processed into continuous filaments or cut into shorter lengths for pulp production. The plant’s woody pseudostem can be shredded to produce fibre‑board or particleboard, though the latter is a minor use.

Properties relevant to use: Abacá fibre contains about 68–75 % cellulose by dry weight with a lignin content of 5–10 %; this composition yields a tensile strength of 600–1 000 MPa, low elongation at break (≈3–4 %) and good moisture resistance. Its low density (≈1.3 g cm⁻³) and fine filament diameter (10–30 µm) enable strong yet lightweight products and efficient pulp refining.

Standards and regulation: The fibre is covered by ISO 11236 (Natural textile fibres – Abacá – Specification), which defines quality grades, moisture content limits and testing methods for textile use. Trade of raw or processed fibre follows HS code 5303 for “Abaca fibre, raw or dressed”.

Sustainability and sourcing: Abacá is cultivated mainly in the Philippines and Indonesia, harvested every 6–8 months from ratoon (sucker) shoots without replanting, requiring minimal agrochemicals. The perennial growth habit, rapid regeneration and high fibre yield per hectare make the crop a renewable source with a relatively low carbon footprint compared with synthetic fibres.

Synonyms Top

Scientific name Authority First published in
Musa amboinensis Miq. Fl. Ned. Ind. 3: 588 (1859)
Musa mindanaensis Miq. Fl. Ned. Ind. 3: 588 (1859)
Musa textilis var. amboinensis (Miq.) Baker Ann. Bot. (Oxford) 7: 211. 1893
Musa tikap Warb. Tropenpflanzer 7: 34 (1903)
Musa troglodytarum var. textoria Blanco Fl. Filip. 247. 1837
Musa abaca Perr. Mém. Soc. Linn. Paris 3: 130 1825

Common names Top

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Language Common/alternative name
English abaca
English abacá
Spanish abaca
Spanish abacá
Spanish abacal
Spanish abacalero
Spanish canamo de manila
Spanish cañamo de manila
Spanish cánamo de manila
Spanish cáñamo de manila
Arabic أباكا
Arabic موز نسيجي
Arabic الياف المانيلا
Azerbaijani abaka (bitki)
Azerbaijani abaka
bcl abaka
Bulgarian абака
Bengali এবাকা
Bengali অ্যাবাকা
Catalan cànem de manila
Catalan abacà
Czech abaka
Czech manilské konopí
Czech banánovník textilní
Danish abaca
Danish abacá
Danish tekstil-banan
German manila
German bandala
German abaca
German abaka
German abakafaser
German abakahanf
German manilahanf
German quilot
German tupoz
German abacá
Esperanto tekstilmuzo
Estonian kiubanaan
Estonian kiudbanaan
Estonian kanepbanaan
Basque abaka
Persian آباچا
Finnish manilahamppu
Finnish abaca
Finnish manilla
French abaca
frr abacá
Irish abacá
Galician abacá
Croatian filipinska konoplja
Upper Sorbian nićata banana
Armenian աբակա
Indonesian pisang abaca
Indonesian pisang benang
Indonesian pisang manila
Indonesian pisang abaka
Italian abaca
Italian abacà
Italian abakà
Italian canapa di cebu
Italian canapa di davao
Japanese セブ麻
Japanese ダバオ麻
Japanese マニラ封筒
Japanese マニラ紙
Japanese マニラ麻
Japanese マニラアサ
Georgian სართავი ბანანი
Kannada ಮರಬಾಳೆ
Korean 마닐라삼
Lithuanian pluoštinis bananas
Malayalam abacá
Malayalam അബാക്കാ
Norwegian Bokmål abacá
Dutch manillahennep
Dutch vezelbanaan
Dutch abaca
pam abaka
Polish banan manilski
Portuguese abacá
Portuguese alvacá
Portuguese bananeira de corda
Portuguese bananeira de flor
Portuguese bananeira-de-corda
Portuguese bananeira-de-flor
Portuguese bandala
Portuguese cânhamo de manila
Portuguese cânhamo-de-manila
Portuguese cânhamo-de-manilha
Romanian abaca
Russian Абака, манильская конопля
Russian Банан текстильный
Russian Манильская конопля
Russian Текстильный банан
Russian Абака
Slovenian vlaknati konopljevec
Slovenian abaka
Slovenian vlaknati bananovec
su cau abaka
Swedish abaca
Swedish manillahampa
Turkish abaka
Turkish manila keneviri
tt Җепселле банан
Ukrainian Текстильний банан
Ukrainian Абака
Urdu عباکا
Chinese 蕉麻
Chinese 馬尼拉麻蕉
Chinese 马尼拉麻蕉
Chinese 馬尼拉麻

Subspecies (abbr. subsp./ssp.) Top

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Varieties (abbr. var.) Top

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Subvarieties (abbr. subvar.) Top

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Forms (abbr. f.) Top

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Germination/Propagation Top

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Distribution (via POWO/KEW) Top

Legend for the distribution data:
- Doubtful data
- Extinct
- Introduced
- Native
  • Asia-tropical
    • Indo-China
      • Andaman Islands
      • Myanmar
      • Nicobar Nicobar
    • Malesia
      • Borneo
      • Jawa
      • Philippines
  • Southern America
    • Caribbean
      • Trinidad-Tobago
    • Central America
      • Costa Rica

Links to other databases Top

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Database ID/link to page
World Flora Online wfo-0000475111
USDA Plants MUTE6
Tropicos 21500493
INPN 630193
KEW urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:797617-1
The Plant List kew-255018
Open Tree Of Life 562615
NCBI Taxonomy 228183
IUCN Red List 158542150
IPNI 797617-1
iNaturalist 425852
GBIF 2762907
Freebase /m/0zsg
EPPO MUBTE
EOL 1116051
US Library of Congress sh95007655
USDA GRIN 24742
Wikipedia Abac%C3%A1

Genomes (via NCBI) Top

Below is displayed the reference genome only!
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Accession Assembly
Name Level Submitter Released Coverage Size
GCA_964270295.1 MTEXT_v1 Chromosome Genoscope 2024-09-28 100 513.49 Mb

Scientific Literature Top

Below are displayed the latest 15 articles published in PMC (PubMed Central®) and other sources (DOI number only)!
If you wish to see all the related articles click here.
Title Authors Publication Released IDs
Pest categorisation of Pyrrhoderma noxium Bragard C, Baptista P, Chatzivassiliou E, Di Serio F, Gonthier P, Jaques Miret JA, Justesen AF, MacLeod A, Magnusson CS, Milonas P, Navas‐Cortes JA, Parnell S, Potting R, Stefani E, Thulke H, Van der Werf W, Vicent Civera A, Yuen J, Zappalà L, Golic D, Gobbi A, Maiorano A, Pautasso M, Reignault PL EFSA J 19-Mar-2024
PMCID:PMC10949325
doi:10.2903/j.efsa.2024.8667
PMID:38505477
The Improvement of the Tribological Behaviour of Chemically Treated Abaca Fibre-Reinforced Polymer Composites Liu Y, Ma Y Materials (Basel) 10-Dec-2023
PMCID:PMC10744615
doi:10.3390/ma16247588
PMID:38138730
High-quality genome assemblies for two Australimusa bananas (Musa spp.) and insights into regulatory mechanisms of superior fiber properties Zhou R, Wang S, Zhan N, He W, Deng G, Dou T, Zhu XT, Xie WZ, Zheng YY, Hu C, Bi F, Gao H, Dong T, Liu S, Li C, Yang Q, Wang L, Song JM, Dang J, Guo Q, Yi G, Chen LL, Sheng O Plant Commun 03-Sep-2023
PMCID:PMC10811375
doi:10.1016/j.xplc.2023.100681
PMID:37660253
Genome-Wide Identification of the MPK Gene Family and Expression Analysis under Low-Temperature Stress in the Banana Fan Z, Zhao B, Lai R, Wu H, Jia L, Zhao X, Luo J, Huang Y, Chen Y, Lin Y, Lai Z Plants (Basel) 12-Aug-2023
PMCID:PMC10460080
doi:10.3390/plants12162926
PMID:37631138
Methodologies to Evaluate the Micromechanics Flexural Strength Properties of Natural-Fiber-Reinforced Composites: The Case of Abaca-Fiber-Reinforced Bio Polyethylene Composites Seculi F, Julián F, Llorens J, Espinach FX, Mutjé P, Tarrés Q Polymers (Basel) 24-Jul-2023
PMCID:PMC10385690
doi:10.3390/polym15143137
PMID:37514525
Lignin, the Lignification Process, and Advanced, Lignin-Based Materials Balk M, Sofia P, Neffe AT, Tirelli N Int J Mol Sci 19-Jul-2023
PMCID:PMC10380785
doi:10.3390/ijms241411668
PMID:37511430
Genome-Wide SNP and Indel Discovery in Abaca (Musa textilis Née) and among Other Musa spp. for Abaca Genetic Resources Management Barbosa CF, Asunto JC, Koh RB, Santos DM, Zhang D, Cao EP, Galvez LC Curr Issues Mol Biol 12-Jul-2023
PMCID:PMC10377871
doi:10.3390/cimb45070365
PMID:37504281
Vegetable Cellulose Fibers in Natural Rubber Composites R. Lozada E, Gutiérrez Aguilar CM, Jaramillo Carvalho JA, Sánchez JC, Barrera Torres G Polymers (Basel) 30-Jun-2023
PMCID:PMC10347282
doi:10.3390/polym15132914
PMID:37447558
The invisible plant technology of Prehistoric Southeast Asia: Indirect evidence for basket and rope making at Tabon Cave, Philippines, 39–33,000 years ago Xhauflair H, Jago-on S, Vitales TJ, Manipon D, Amano N, Callado JR, Tandang D, Kerfant C, Choa O, Pawlik A PLoS One 30-Jun-2023
PMCID:PMC10313078
doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0281415
PMID:37390048
Divergent endophytic viromes and phage genome repertoires among banana (Musa) species Aghdam SA, Lahowetz RM, Brown AM Front Microbiol 09-Jun-2023
PMCID:PMC10288200
doi:10.3389/fmicb.2023.1127606
PMID:37362937
Characterization of new natural cellulosic fiber from Calamus tenuis (Jati Bet) cane as a potential reinforcement for polymer composites Kar A, Saikia D Heliyon 23-May-2023
PMCID:PMC10238902
doi:10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e16491
PMID:37274658
Metapangenomics of wild and cultivated banana microbiome reveals a plethora of host-associated protective functions Singh S, Aghdam SA, Lahowetz RM, Brown AM Environ Microbiome 21-Apr-2023
PMCID:PMC10120106
doi:10.1186/s40793-023-00493-x
PMID:37085932
Evolution and Classification of Musaceae Based on Male Floral Morphology Inta W, Traiperm P, Ruchisansakun S, Janssens SB, Viboonjun U, Swangpol SC Plants (Basel) 10-Apr-2023
PMCID:PMC10144554
doi:10.3390/plants12081602
PMID:37111826
Genome assembly of Musa beccarii shows extensive chromosomal rearrangements and genome expansion during evolution of Musaceae genomes Wang ZF, Rouard M, Droc G, Heslop-Harrison P(, Ge XJ Gigascience 21-Feb-2023
PMCID:PMC9941839
doi:10.1093/gigascience/giad005
PMID:36807539
Fusarium spp. associated with Chenopodium quinoa crops in Colombia Fonseca-Guerra IR, Chiquillo-Pompeyo JC, Benavides Rozo ME, Díaz Ovalle JF Sci Rep 02-Dec-2022
PMCID:PMC9718861
doi:10.1038/s41598-022-24908-w
PMID:36460698

Phytochemical Profile Top

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