UTILISATION
- Tubers, after detoxication, can be eaten in many different ways: ground into
flour, fermented slightly and dried into a flour known as garri in West Africa,
or made into a coarse meal known as farinha in South America, gaplek in
Indonesia, etc. - Tapioca is made from fine starch extracted from the tubers, while in industry
cassava starch is used in adhesives and cosmetics, and as a source of acetone,
sugars and starches. - Rural and other communities around the world are also cheered by the large
range of beers and other alcoholic beverages made from the tubers of this
noble plant. - Whole plants can be used, planted very close together in staggered lines to
form living fences for protection of crops, property, etc from animals. If nothing
else is available the stems can be used as low quality building or shade material.
LIMITATIONS
- Cassava tubers often contain HCN; they also have a high fibre content and a
low protein content (0.7–3%). - The plants are susceptible to virus diseases, and sometimes also to insect pests
and predation by wild animals. - Long growth period, though this is not always a problem as cassava is a good
famine reserve food, which can be stored safely in the field and underground, or
sun dried. - The tubers can deteriorate rapidly, within one or two days, unless they are
stored in good conditions.
Irish Potato
Solanum tuberosum
European Potato, English Potato, Common Potato, White Potato, Solanum Potato -
The potato originated in South America, and its name comes from the Spanish
patata, from batatas, an American Indian word for the sweet potato. Potatoes are
now grown throughout the world, principally in Europe; large areas are grown in
Russia, Germany, Poland, India and China. In temperate climates it is the most
important root crop, while the sweet potato is king in warmer climates.
Leaves unfortunately may contain HCN, which is a pity as they also have a high
content of protein and Vitamin A and C. They can be very useful for protecting
the soil from erosion and also reducing weed growth—many modern varieties
have a very high leaf area index and so are especially useful for this purpose.208 TONY WINCH
to distinguish it from the Sweet Potato (Ipomoea batatas). Pomme de Terre (French);
Kartoffel, Erdapfel (German); Patatas, Papa (Spanish); Batatas, Batata Reina
(Portuguese); Ekapa (Angola); Dinish (Tigray); Dinich (Ethiopia); Aaloo, Alu
(Hindi); Kachalu (Pashtu and Dari).