The effect of temperature and duration of cooking on plantain and banana fruit texture and cytpoplasmic and cell wall components was investigated. The firmness of both banana and plantain pulp tissues decreased rapidly during the first 10 min of cooking in water above 70 degrees C, although plantain was much firmer than banana. Cooking resulted in pectin solubilzation and middle lamella dissolution leading to cell wall separation (as observed by SEM). Dessert banana showed more advanced and extensive breakdown than plantain. Although dessert banana had a higher total pectin content than plantain, the former had smaller-sized carboxyethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (CDTA) soluble pectic polymers which are associated with plant tissues that have a propensity to soften. Plantain had higher levels of starch and amylose than banana but this was associated with a firmer fruit texture rather than a softening due to cell swelling during starch gelatinization. Different cooking treatments showed that cooking in 0.5% of CaCl(2) solution and temperatures below 70 degrees C had significant effects on maintenance of pulp firmness.