The name originates from their bright orange flesh, unusually rich in β-carotene.

They are often treated as a single cultivar, i.e. a distinct cultivated variety, with a name written as Musa 'Karat' in accordance with the International Code of Nomenclature for Cultivated Plants.

However, in Pohnpei there are at least three types, 'Karat Kole', 'Karat Pwehu' and 'Karat Pako'.

[1][2] Traditionally, the Karat banana was used in Micronesia to wean infants onto solid food.

However, it is believed that because beta-carotenes are important metabolic precursors of vitamin A, essential for the proper functioning of the retina, giving Karat bananas to young children could help ward off certain kinds of blindness.