Summary This dataset comprises a comprehensive, curated bibliography of 807 research publications on Ensete ventricosum (commonly known as Enset, False Banana, or Abyssinian Banana), a critical drought-tolerant food security crop native to Ethiopia and cultivated across East Africa. The database spans scholarly literature from 1790 to June 2026, capturing the full breadth of enset research history. Background Ensete ventricosum (Welw.) Cheesman (family Musaceae) is a perennial monocarpic plant that serves as a staple or co-staple food for over 20 million people in the Ethiopian Highlands. Despite its critical role in food security, climate resilience, and sustainable agriculture, enset has been historically under-researched compared to other major crops. This database addresses that gap by systematically aggregating and organizing all available enset research outputs. Dataset Structure The database includes 807 records, each containing up to 21 fields of structured metadata: Field Description id Unique identifier (1-807) authors Author(s) names (individuals and groups) title Full publication title year Publication year (1790-2026) publisher_country Country of publisher publisher_institution_category Type of institution (University, NGO, Government, Private) publisher / journal_name Publisher name or journal title index Indexing databases (Scopus, Web of Science, etc.) impact_factor Journal impact factor (if available) impact_category High (H), Medium (M), or Low (L) impact volume / issue Journal volume and issue numbers article_access Open Access or Restricted url Direct link to publication (DOI or URL) study_types Research type (Research, Review, Book, Thesis, etc.) study_category Research category (Taxonomy, Genetics, Agronomy, etc.) geographic_focus Geographic region of study (Ethiopia, Africa, Global, etc.) landraces_mentioned Specific enset landraces/clones discussed abstract Publication abstract (when available) overview Key findings or summary Coverage Temporal coverage: 1790 – 2025 Geographic coverage: Global, with emphasis on Ethiopia, Africa, India, and Southeast Asia Document types: Journal articles, books, book chapters, theses, conference papers, reports, reviews, preprints, and institutional publications Research categories: Taxonomy & Systematics, Genetics & Genomics, Production & Agronomy, Food Science & Fermentation, Ethnobotany & Indigenous Knowledge, Diseases & Pests, Biochemistry & Nutrition, Microbiota & Soil Science, History, Paleobotany, Socio-economics & Marketing, and Reviews & General Sample Records id Authors Title Year 1 Cheesman, E. E. Classification of the bananas: the genus Ensete Horan 1947 2 Baker, R. E. D.; Simmonds, N. W. The genus ensete in Africa 1953 3 Smeds, Helmer The Ensete planting culture of Eastern Sidamo, Ethiopia 1955 302 Harrison, James et al. A draft genome sequence for Ensete ventricosum 2014 513 Borrell, James S. et al. Enset in Ethiopia: a poorly characterized but resilient starch staple 2019 Key Features of This Dataset Comprehensive coverage – 800+ records spanning over 235 years of research Structured metadata – 21 standardized fields for easy filtering and analysis Open access identification – Each record indicates whether the publication is freely available Direct links – URLs and DOIs provided for easy access to source publications Categorization – Publications classified by study type, category, and geographic focus Landraces tracking – Specific enset landraces mentioned in publications are recorded Potential Uses Bibliometric analysis of enset research trends over time Identification of research gaps in enset science Literature review and systematic review support Citation analysis and impact assessment Reference management for enset researchers Educational resource for agricultural and food security courses Policy support for enset research prioritization Methodology The bibliography was compiled through: Systematic searches of academic databases (Scopus, Web of Science, Google Scholar, PubMed, AGRIS) Review of institutional repositories and university thesis databases Citation chaining from key enset publications Consultation with enset research experts and institutions (Areka Agricultural Research Center, Hawassa University, Arba Minch University, Wageningen University) Manual curation and deduplication of records Cross-verification of metadata against original sources File Format The dataset is provided as a CSV (Comma-Separated Values) file encoded in UTF-8, compatible with: Microsoft Excel Google Sheets R (read.csv) Python (pandas) Zotero, Mendeley, and other reference managers Any text editor or data analysis software Version Information Version: 1.0 Last updated: June 2026 Number of records: 807 Next planned update: Annually or as new publications become available Citation When using this dataset, please cite: text Mitiku Muanenda. (2026). Enset Research Database: A Comprehensive Bibliography of Ensete ventricosum Research (1790-2025) (Version 1.0) [Data set]. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.[XXXXXX] Related Resources Enset Research Search Engine: https://enset.wehenet.com/data_base/index.php