Plant Profile: Cassava (Manihot esculenta)

Subtropical Abundance   - Josh Jamison

Cassava is one of the major staple foods of humanity, especially in the developing countries of the tropics where it provides a reliable source of calories when other crops may fail.  The dense, starchy roots were historically a crucial food source for many indigenous groups throughout its native South America.  Though technically a root, they are broadly thought of as a “tuber crop” in their cultivation and usage.  It has now spread throughout the warm parts of the planet to become crucially important in tropical Africa, Asia, and beyond.  In the case of Africa, cassava is the primary staple food of millions of people.  This wide diaspora has given the crop many names such as yuca, manioc, tapioca, and endless variations on these.  Cassava is eaten as a starchy, potato-like root vegetable but is also the source of tapioca starch, which has a myriad of food and industrial applications.  Unlike most other root crops, which are herbaceous, cassava is a woody shrub.