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Restored revision 1242696961 by Chiswick Chap (talk): It's yuca. Yucca is a misspelling (when applied to this plant) |
ChadBary13 (talk | contribs) m →top: fixed a small wording mistake, in brazilian portuguese the word "farinha" is used to refer to any type of flour, while "farofa" is used for the flour made from specifically the cassava root Tags: Mobile edit Mobile app edit Android app edit App section source |
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'''''Manihot esculenta''''', [[common name|commonly called]] '''cassava''', '''manioc''',<!--<ref name=GRIN>{{GRIN |access-date=4 January 2014}}</ref>--> or '''yuca''' (among numerous regional names), 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 [[starch]]y root [[tuber]]. 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 {{lang|pt-BR|
Cassava is the third-largest source of carbohydrates in food in the tropics, after [[rice]] and [[maize]], making it an important [[staple food|staple]]; more than 500 million people depend on it. It offers the advantage of being exceptionally [[drought-tolerant]], and able to grow productively on poor soil. The largest producer is Nigeria, while Thailand is the largest exporter of cassava starch.
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