Eat More Herbs - Eat More Yuca Root

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Eat More Yuca Root

Yuca is a tropical potato-like vegetable, grown as a major source of carbohydrates, in temperate zones of Asia, Africa, the Caribbean, and South America. People in these countries use Yuca like Americans use potatoes. The root has a brown skin with a white inner flesh full of carbohydrates. The root ranges from 6 to 12 inches in length and 2 to 3 inches in diameter. Yuca root is high in starch and contains low levels of protein, with high levels of protein in the green leaves. As a food high in carbohydrates, it contains almost 140 calories in an average size root. It is a major crop, it grows in many areas where other crops do not grow as easily, making it valued as a food for local markets.

Peeled cassava root
by J. Stolfi.

The root should not be eaten raw, it contains cyanogenic glucosides which are converted to cyanide in the presence of linamarase, a naturally occurring enzyme in yuca.

It should always be dried, soaked in a water solution, washed, and cooked to remove poisonous substances contained in the root.

The root is eaten like a potato as a side dish or added to soups or stews. Like a potato it soaks up the flavor of the other ingredients combined with it when cooked. The plant leaves are eaten as a vegetable green.

Depending on the variety, Yuca root can be bitter or sweet. The sweet varieties can be eaten raw but plants can contain different levels of cyanogenic glucosides that can cause different levels of distress if eaten raw, so it is always best to be safe and cook the vegetable. The large bitter varieties contain more cyanogenic glucosides, they are peeled and then ground into flour, which is then soaked in water, squeezed dry several times, and toasted.

Photo by David Monniaux

Yuca is used to make tapioca, tapioca flour, pancakes, and snack chips. After being harvested, it does not last long. The fresh root is coated with editable wax to store it for longer periods of time. Fresh roots can be stored 3 to 4 days when kept in a cool dry area. The peeled flesh freezes well and can be kept for several months if frozen. The roots can be cut into chunks and stored in an airtight wrapping.

Yuca is also called cassava, mandioca, aipim, macaxeira in Portuguese, mandio in Guaraní, maniok in Afrikaans, yuca or mandioca in Spanish, mogho in Gujarati, tapioka in Fijian, kappa or maracheeni in Malayalam, singkong or ubi kayu in Indonesian, tugi in Ilocano, balinghoy in Tagalog, maniok in German, Danish and Czech, manyok in Haitian Creole, lumu in Kichwa, manioc in French, and mannyokka in Sinhala.

Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Division: Magnoliophyta
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Malpighiales
Family: Euphorbiaceae
Subfamily: Crotonoideae
Tribe: Manihoteae
Genus: Manihot
Species: M. esculenta
Binomial name: Manihot esculenta Crantz

from Koehler's Medicinal-Plants 1887

By Harvey Robinson

Nothing in this website is intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease. Yuca has not been approved by the Food & Drug Administration for the treatment of any disease.