Manihot esculenta
The story
In South America, stretching from Brazil and Paraguay to the Andes, the woody cassava shrub has long been cultivated. It has traveled far from its native home to become a vital annual crop in tropical regions worldwide. Over generations, communities have developed intricate ways to transform this root, such as grating, pressing, and roasting it to create the traditional, coarse flour known as farofa in Brazil and garri in West Africa.
Sources: en.wikipedia.org
- Family
- Euphorbiaceae
How to use it
Manihot esculenta is extensively cultivated for its edible starchy tuberous root. Beyond direct human consumption, the starch extracted from the root, known as tapioca, is utilized for animal feed and various industrial purposes.
Sources: en.wikipedia.org
Gardening tip
When cultivating this woody perennial shrub in tropical or subtropical regions, plan to grow and harvest it as an annual crop to utilize its valuable, starch-rich tuberous roots.
Sources: en.wikipedia.org
In the kitchen
Cassava roots are predominantly consumed in a boiled form. Additionally, the roots can be processed to extract tapioca starch, which is used in various foods. To make traditional Brazilian farofa or West African garri, the roots are grated, the moisture is pressed out of the resulting pulp, and the mixture is finally dried and roasted into a coarse, edible flour.
Sources: en.wikipedia.org
About
Manihot esculenta, commonly called cassava, manioc, or yuca, is a woody shrub of the spurge family, Euphorbiaceae, native to South America, from Brazil, Paraguay and parts of the Andes. Although a perennial plant, cassava is extensively cultivated in tropical and subtropical regions as an annual crop for its edible starchy tuberous root. Cassava is predominantly consumed in boiled form, but substantial quantities are processed to extract cassava starch, called tapioca, which is used for food, animal feed, and industrial purposes. The Brazilian farofa, and the related garri of West Africa, is an edible coarse flour obtained by grating cassava roots, pressing moisture off the obtained grated pulp, and finally drying and roasting it.
Ecology
How it lives
- Propagated by
- Seed
Full detailsevery field on the record, to copy
- Name
- Manihot esculenta
- Slug
- manihot-esculenta
- Kingdom
- Plantae
- Family
- Euphorbiaceae
- Genus
- Manihot
- Species
- esculenta
- Wikidata QID
- Q83124
- Propagule type
- seed
- Container suitable
- No
- Indoor suitable
- No
- OSSI pledged
- No
- Hazard level
- 1
- Data completeness
- 43
Generated sections & citations
summarywikipedia
fun_facts_kidsllm_gemini · confidence 1.00
- wikipedia (description.summary) — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cassava
fun_facts_adultllm_gemini · confidence 1.00
- sprigloom (taxonomy)
- wikipedia (description.summary) — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cassava
cookingllm_gemini · confidence 1.00
- wikipedia (description.summary) — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cassava
storyllm_gemini · confidence 1.00
- wikipedia (description.summary) — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cassava
how_to_usellm_gemini · confidence 1.00
- wikipedia (description.summary) — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cassava
gardening_tipllm_gemini · confidence 1.00
- wikipedia (description.summary) — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cassava