Root vegetable
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Root vegetables are underground plant parts eaten by humans or animals as food. In agricultural and culinary terminology, the term applies to true roots, such as taproots and root tubers, as well as non-roots such as bulbs, corms, rhizomes, and stem tubers.[1]
Description
[edit | edit source]Root vegetables are generally energy storage organs containing carbohydrates such as starches and sugars.[2]
List of root vegetables
[edit | edit source]The following list classifies root vegetables organized by their roots' anatomy.
Modified plant stem
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- Corm
- Amorphophallus konjac (konjac)
- Colocasia esculenta (taro)
- Eleocharis dulcis (Chinese water chestnut)
- Ensete spp. (enset)
- Nymphaea spp. (waterlily)
- Pteridium esculentum
- Sagittaria spp. (arrowhead or wapatoo)
- Typha spp.
- Xanthosoma spp. (malanga, cocoyam, tannia, yautia and other names)
- Colocasia antiquorum (eddoe or Japanese potato)
- Bulb
- Allium cepa (onion)
- Allium sativum (garlic)
- Camassia quamash (blue camas)
- Foeniculum vulgare (fennel)
- Rhizome
- Curcuma longa (turmeric)
- Panax ginseng (ginseng)
- Alpinia galanga (galangal)
- Arthropodium spp. (rengarenga, vanilla lily, and others)
- Canna spp. (canna)
- Cordyline fruticosa (ti)
- Maranta arundinacea (arrowroot)
- Nelumbo nucifera (lotus root)
- Typha spp. (cattail or bulrush)
- Zingiber officinale (ginger)
- Tuberous stem
- Apios americana (hog potato or groundnut)
- Cyperus esculentus (tigernut or chufa)
- Helianthus tuberosus (Jerusalem artichoke or sunchoke)
- Hemerocallis spp. (daylily)
- Lathyrus tuberosus (earthnut pea)
- Oxalis tuberosa (oca or New Zealand yam)
- Plectranthus edulis and P. esculentus (kembili, dazo, and others)
- Solanum tuberosum (potato)
- Stachys affinis (Chinese artichoke or crosne)
- Tropaeolum tuberosum (mashua or añu)
- Ullucus tuberosus (ulluku)
Root-like stem
[edit | edit source]- Zamia integrifolia (Florida arrowroot)
True root
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- Taproot (some types may incorporate substantial hypocotyl tissue)
- Arracacia xanthorrhiza (arracacha)
- Beta vulgaris (beet and mangelwurzel)
- Brassica spp. (kohlrabi, rutabaga and turnip)
- Bunium persicum (black cumin)
- Burdock (Arctium, family Asteraceae)
- Carrot (Daucus carota subsp. sativus)
- Celeriac (Apium graveolens rapaceum)
- Daikon – the large East Asian white radish (Raphanus sativus var. longipinnatus)
- Dandelion (Taraxacum) spp.
- Horseradish (Armoracia rusticana)
- Lepidium meyenii (maca)
- Microseris lanceolata (murnong or yam daisy)
- Pachyrhizus spp. (jicama and ahipa)
- Parsnip (Pastinaca sativa)
- Petroselinum spp. (parsley root)
- Radish (Raphanus sativus)
- Scorzonera hispanica (black salsify)
- Sium sisarum (skirret)
- Tragopogon spp. (salsify)
- Vigna lanceolata (bush carrot or bush potato)
- Tuberous root
- Amorphophallus galbra (yellow lily yam)
- Conopodium majus (pignut or earthnut)
- Dioscorea spp. (yams, ube)
- Dioscorea polystachya (nagaimo, Chinese yam, Korean yam, mountain yam, white ñame)
- Hornstedtia scottiana (native ginger)
- Ipomoea batatas (sweet potato)
- Ipomoea costata (desert yam)
- Manihot esculenta (cassava or yuca or manioc)
- Mirabilis expansa (mauka or chago)
- Pediomelum esculentum (breadroot, tipsin, or prairie turnip)
- Smallanthus sonchifolius (yacón)
Uses
[edit | edit source]Many root vegetables keep well in root cellars, lasting several months. This is one way of storing food for use long after harvest, which is especially important in nontropical latitudes, where winter is traditionally a time of little to no harvesting. There are also season extension methods that can extend the harvest throughout the winter, mostly through the use of polytunnels.
Starchy root vegetables are of particular economic importance as staple foods, especially in tropical regions. They overshadow cereals throughout much of Central and West Africa, as well as Oceania, in these areas being used directly or mashed to make foods such as fufu or poi.
References
[edit | edit source]- ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value). Potatoes are technically not roots, and sweet potatoes are a type of root called tuberous roots.
- ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
External links
[edit | edit source]
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