Root vegetable

Root vegetable

Root vegetables are plant roots used as vegetables. [cite web
url=http://www.askoxford.com/concise_oed/root_1?view=uk
title=AskOxford.com
accessdate=2007-05-06] Other underground plants are often, erroneously, called root vegetables. Root vegetables include both true roots such as tuberous roots and taproots, but exclude non-roots such as tubers, rhizomes, corms, and bulbs. Several types contain both taproot and hypocotyl tissue, and it may be difficult to distinguish the two.

Regardless of anatomical type, root vegetables are generally storage organs, enlarged to store energy in the form of carbohydrates. They differ in the concentration and the balance between sugars, starches, and other types of carbohydrate.

Of particular economic importance are those with a high carbohydrate concentration in the form of starch. These starchy root vegetables are important staple foods, particularly in tropical regions. They overshadow the cereals throughout much of West Africa, Central Africa, and Oceania, where they are used directly or mashed to make foufou or poi.

List of underground vegetables by anatomical type

* True root
** Taproot (some types may incorporate substantial hypocotyl tissue)
*** "Apium graveolens" (celeriac)
*** "Arctium" spp. (burdock or gobo)
*** "Arracacia xanthorrhiza" (arracacha)
*** "Beta vulgaris" (beet and mangelwurzel)
*** "Brassica" spp. (rutabaga and turnip)
*** "Bunium persicum" (black cumin)
*** "Daucus carota" (carrot)
*** "Lepidium meyenii" (maca)
*** "Pachyrhizus" spp. (jicama and ahipa)
*** "Pastinaca sativa" (parsnip)
*** "Petroselinum" spp. (parsley root)
*** "Raphanus sativus" (daikon and radish)
*** "Scorzonera hispanica" (black salsify)
*** "Sium sisarum" (skirret)
*** "Tragopogon" spp. (salsify)
** Tuberous root
*** "Conopodium majus" (pignut or earthnut)
*** "Ipomoea batatas" (sweet potato)
*** "Manihot esculenta" (cassava or yucca or manioc)
*** "Mirabilis extensa" (mauka or chago)
*** "Psoralea esculenta" (breadroot, tipsin, or prairie turnip)
*** "Smallanthus sonchifolius" (yacón)
* Modified stem
** Corm
*** "Amorphophallus konjac" (konjac)
*** "Colocasia esculenta" (taro)
*** "Eleocharis dulcis" (Chinese water chestnut)
*** "Ensete" spp. (enset)
*** "Sagittaria" spp. (arrowhead or wapatoo)
*** "Xanthosoma" spp. (malanga, cocoyam, tannia, and other names)
** Rhizome
*** "Zingiber officinale" (ginger, galangal)
*** "Curcuma longa" (turmeric)
*** "Panax ginseng" (ginseng)
*** "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)
** Tuber
*** "Apios americana" (hog potato or groundnut)
*** "Cyperus esculentus" (tigernut or chufa)
*** "Dioscorea" spp. (yams, ube)
*** "Hemerocallis" spp. (daylily)
*** "Helianthus tuberosus" (Jerusalem artichoke or sunchoke)
*** "Lathyrus tuberosus" (earthnut pea)
*** "Oxalis tuberosa" (oca or New Zealand yam)
*** "Solanum tuberosum" (potato)
*** "Plectranthus edulis" and "P. esculentus". (kembili, dazo, and others)
*** "Stachys affinis" (Chinese artichoke or crosne)
*** "Tropaeolum tuberosum" (mashua or añu)
*** "Ullucus tuberosus" (ulluco)
* Other
** Bulb
*** "Allium" spp. (garlic, onion, shallot, et cetera)
*** "Camassia quamash" (quamash)
*** "Erythronium" spp. (katakuri)
*** "Lilium" spp. (lilies)

External links

* [http://www.uga.edu/rootandtubercrops/English/ Root and tuber crops at the University of Georgia]
* [http://waynesword.palomar.edu/vege1.htm Wayne's Word]

Notes


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