According to one of the website I sometimes look at, tomorrow (15th July) is “National Tapioca Pudding Day” in the USA. Tapioca comes from the Cassava plant.
Cassava, also I known as Yuca, has the taxonomical name Manihot esculenta the; it is amember of Euphorbiaceae (spurge family). It is native to South America, where indigenous people long-ago learned to gather its starchy roots as a foodstuff. It grows wellin tropical to subtropical areas with modest rainfall. Though drought tolerant, it is not a “desert” plant (look again at spelling of title), and cultivated as a major staple crop across America, Africa and Asia. A significant proportion of the world population depends on cassava root as its main source of dietary calories. Tapioca is cassava starch; it is relatively pure, with low levels of protein and minerals. Tapioca is used throughout the world’s kitchens particularly as a thickening agent. When I was growing up, tapioca was often served made upas a sweet milk pudding.
Besides the nutritionally valuable starch, some bitter Cassava varieties contain toxic amounts of cyanide and cyanide generating glycosides (e.g. limarin) at levelssufficient to cause acute poisoning and even death. Indigenous Amazon tribes became adept both at preparing cassava as a safe food and also extracting Cassava toxins to preparepoison weapons.
Phytochemicals extracted from Cassava leaves appear to have promising immunomodulatory activities that may be useful for treating certain metabolic disorders. Various parts of the cassava plant Cassava may also have numerous uses as : cosmetic ingredient: for wound-healing, root peels as ask in-brightening exfoliator, for promoting hair growth and reducing hair loss.
Happy Tapioca Pudding Day
Further reading
• BoukhersI et al (2022). Nutrition, Healthcare Benefits and Phytochemical Properties of Cassava (Manihot esculenta) Leaves Sourced from Three Countries(Reunion, Guinea, and Costa Rica). Foods (Basel, Switzerland), 11(14),2027. https://doi.org/10.3390/foods11142027
• Choudhary T (Jul 5, 2023) 26 Amazing Benefits Of Cassava For Skin, Hair, And Health. Style craze website https://www.stylecraze.com/articles/benefits-of-cassava-on-your-skin-hair-and-health/
• Frithowulf H (March 16, 2023) Cassava: Native Americans Used Cassava Poison Over Firearms, Malevus website https://malevus.com/cassava/
• Wikipedia (2023). Cassava. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Cassava&oldid=1162678974
