Abelmoschus esculentus (L - the University of Maine at Fort Kent

Kermath, Bennett and Pulsipher - Food Plants in the Americs
USES/NOTES: Fruits are edible, used to cure fevers, cough, and
asthma, and are fed to animals. Liquid endosperm is drunk and
after germination, the endosperm is eaten. Oil is extracted from
the seeds and stems are a source of palm starch (sago) in the
Orinoco delta.
NATURAL RANGE: Atlantic coast of Central America to Ecuador,
Colombia, northern Brazil, Venezuela, the Guianas, and Trinidad
REFERENCES: Berg 1984, Duke and Vásquez 1994, Gómez-Beloz 2002,
Henderson 1995, Henderson et al. 1995, Hoyas 1989, Jones 1995,
Martin et al. 1987, Uphof 1968
Manihot esculenta Crantz [syn. M. dulcis Pax, M. utilissima Pohl]
FAMILY: Euphorbiaceae (spurge)
ENGLISH: bitter cassava, bitter manioc, cassava, gari, manioc,
sweet cassava, sweet manioc, tapioca plant, yuca
PORTUGUESE: bitter varieties- mandioca, mandioca-braba, mandiocabranca,
mandioca-brava, mandioca-cacau, mandioca-vassourinha,
maniva, tapioca; sweet varieties- aipi, aipim, macaxeira,
mandioca-doce, mandioca-mansa, tapioca
SPANISH: bitter varieties- atsa raoxo, cabeza de mono, canaqui,
casabe, casava, caxcamote, guacamote, lengua de venado, mandioca,
nasisi, palca, pata de paloma, poiquinihua, raoxo, ruma, runcha
(dried), xëbi atsa, xoya atsa, yuca, yuca agria, yuca amarga,
yuca brava, yuca morada; sweet varieties- aypi, cuacamote,
huacamote, machetazo, mama, runcha (dried), sacharuma, sacharuna,
yuca, yuca blanca, yuca dulce, yuca guariche, zopa
USES/NOTES: Tubers, an important staple in the tropics, are eaten
sliced and fried; sliced and pounded then fried; boiled; roasted;
boiled in soups; grated and roasted to a grainy flour known
locally as farine in Guyana; farinha, farinha de mandioca, or
farofa (when a finer grade) in Brazil; chivé in Bolivia; and
mañoco in Venezuela, and made into bread-like cakes called
cassava. Tubers of bitter varieties must be cooked adequately to
remove poisons (cyanogenic compounds) before eating, however,
sweet varieties are eaten raw in Africa. Tubers also are a starch
(tapioca) and alcohol source. Tapioca (or mañoco in Venezuela)
consists of small white pellets eaten as a breakfast food in
Amazonia or made into tapioca pancakes called beiju in Brazil.
Plant juice is boiled to remove toxins then made into the popular
tucupí sauce of Amazonian Brazil (cassarip in the Guianas) that
is used in a variety of regional dishes. The sauce is mixed with
cheese in Bolivia to make kuñapé. An alcoholic beverage (chicha
in Spanish) is made by fermenting a mash often in containers with
other plant ingredients. Previously, and still in some indigenous
communities chicha is made by chewing the leaves and spitting
them into the container to ferment. Although made differently,
similar alcoholic beverages, known as sarawau and parakari, are
made in Guyana. Young leaves of sweet varieties contain 5-10
percent protein and are eaten in places. Discarded stems of sweet
varieties are fed to animals.
DRAFT - DO NOT DUPLICATE OR DISTRIBUTE
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