Category:Cassava

Cassava, (also spelled cassaba or cassada), is a woody shrub with an edible starchy tuberous root. Cassava is ground into a flour. The root can be cut into chips and dried or made into flour. The root can be soft-boiled or steamed, then deep-fried. It is used to make puddings, tapioca pearls, cereals, cake, desserts, and pastries. The juice can be made into a sauce. The leaves pounded and cooked, can also be used in a sauce or stew. Research is now being done to use it in biofuel. The young growth of hay harvested from cassava plants and dried for 1-2 days has proven to be good roughage for dairy cattle, beef, buffalo, goats, and sheep.

Cassava is gluten-free and therefore good for people with celiac disease or gluten sensitivities. It is used for medicinal purposes. The RAW ROOTS are TOXIC! They contain cyanide. COOK BEFORE CONSUMING or use some type of processing (soaking, cooking, fermentation, etc.) to avoid getting sick. Thick rooted cassava needs more processing than thin rooted cassava to make it edible for human consumption.

Cas"sa*va, n. Etym: [F. cassave, Sp. cazabe, fr. kasabi, in the language of Hayti.]

1. (Bot.)

Defn: A shrubby euphorbiaceous plant of the genus Manihot, with fleshy rootstocks yielding an edible starch; -- called also manioc.

Note: There are two species, bitter and sweet, from which the cassava of commerce is prepared in the West Indies, tropical America, and Africa. The bitter (Manihot utilissima) is the more important; this has a poisonous sap, but by grating, pressing, and baking the root the poisonous qualities are removed. The sweet (M. Aipi) is used as a table vegetable.

2. A nutritious starch obtained from the rootstocks of the cassava plant, used as food and in making tapioca.

Other names for this plant are: Brazil: mandioca, aipim, or macaxeira Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, The Dominican Republic, Haiti, Panama, Peru, Venezuela: yuca Paraguay: yuca Nigeria: akpu, ege or ugburu Ghana: bankye Swahili (Africa): mogo or mihogo Lingala (Africa): pondu India: kappa Sri Lanka: maniokka Indonesia: singkong Malaysia: ubi kayu Philippines: kamoteng kahoy or balanghoy China: mushu Thailand: man sampalang Vietnam: củ sắn or khoai mì Polynesia: manioke, tapioka or manioka