Cassava is a drought-tolerant, staple food crop grown in tropical and subtropical areas where many people are afflicted with undernutrition, making it a potentially valuable food source for developing countries. Cassava roots are a good source of energy while the leaves provide protein, vitamins, and minerals. However, cassava roots and leaves are deficient in sulfur-containing amino acids (methionine and cysteine) and some nutrients are not optimally distributed within the plant. Cassava also contains antinutrients that can have either positive or adverse effects on health depending upon the amount ingested. Although some of these compounds act as antioxidants and anticarcinogens, they can interfere with nutrient absorption and utilization and may have toxic side effects. Efforts to add nutritional value to cassava (biofortification) by increasing the contents of protein, minerals, starch, and β-carotene are underway. The transfer of a 284 bp synthetic gene coding for a storage protein rich in essential amino acids and the crossbreeding of wild-type cassava varieties with Manihot dichotoma or Manihot oligantha have shown promising results regarding cassava protein content. Enhancing ADP glucose pyrophosphorylase activity in cassava roots or adding amylase to cassava gruels increases cassava energy density. Moreover, carotenoid-rich yellow and orange cassava may be a foodstuff for delivering provitamin A to vitamin A–depleted populations. Researchers are currently investigating the effects of cassava processing techniques on carotenoid stability and isomerization, as well as the vitamin A value of different varieties of cassava. Biofortified cassava could alleviate some aspects of food insecurity in developing countries if widely adopted.

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/j.1541-4337.2009.00077.x

Nutritional Value of Cassava for Use as a Staple Food and Recent Advances for Improvement

http://radicalanthropologygroup.org/sites/default/files/pdf/class_text_069.pdf

Grandmothering and the evolution ofHomo erectus

S & BIBLIOGRAPHIES Bibliography of Agriculture Biological Abstracts Botany Subject Index (U. S. Dept. of Agriculture) Chemical Abstracts Craker, L. E., A. F. Chadwick, & J. E. Simon. 1986. An introduction to the scientific literature on herbs, spices, and medicinal plants. Recent Adv. Bot. Hort. Pharm. 1: 1-9. Excerpta Botanica Index Medicus Index to American Botanical Literature Simon, J. E., A. F. Chadwick, & L. E. Craker. 1984. Herbs: an indexed bibliography, 1971-1980: the scientific literature on selected herbs, and aromatic and medicinal plants of the temperate zone. Shoe String Press. 770 pp.

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Plants & Civilization; An Introduction to the Interrelationships of Plants and People

Cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz) is an important tropical root crop providing energy to about 500 million people. The presence of the two cyanogenic glycosides, linamarin and lotaustralin, in cassava is a major factor limiting its use as food or feed. Traditional processing techniques practiced in cassava production are known to reduce cyanide in tubers and leaves. Drying is the most ubiquitous processing operation in many tropical countries. Sun drying eliminates more cyanide than oven drying because of the prolonged contact time between linamarase and the glucosides in sun drying. Soaking followed by boiling is better than soaking or boiling alone in removing cyanide. Traditional African food products such as gari and fufu are made by a series of operations such as grating, dewatering, fermenting, and roasting. During the various stages of gari manufacture, 80 to 95% cyanide loss occurs. The best processing method for the use of cassava leaves as human food is pounding the leaves and cooking the mash in water. Fermentation, boiling, and ensiling are efficient techniques for removing cyanide from cassava peels.

Cyanide detoxification in cassava for food and feed uses

Cassava contributes significantly to the nutrition and livelihood of up to 500 million people and thousands of processors and traders around the world. Besides serving as the primary staple food of millions of people in the tropics and subtropics, it can also be used as a carbohydrate source in animal feed. Cassava is used as a raw material in the manufacture of processed food, animal feed and industrial products. Wider utilization of cassava products can be a catalyst for rural industrial development and raise the incomes for producers, processors and traders. It can also contribute to the food security status of its producing and consuming households (Plucknett et al., 1998).

/pdf/cassava-utilization-in-food-feed-and-industry-48ro2ydfpc.pdf

Cassava utilization in food, feed and industry.

Cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz) is an important source of food in the tropics. Phillips (1974) estimated that by 1980 it would provide 37% of the calories consumed in Africa, 11% in Latin America and 6% in the Far East forming the staple diet of 500 million people. Total world production in 1978 was estimated to be over 119 mill tonnes, mainly distributed among Africa, South America and Southeast Asia (FAO, 1979). Production figures for the major cassava producing countries of the world for the years 1976-1978 are shown in Table 1. Most of the world production of cassava is used for human consumption in tropical countries, the other main uses being for animal feed and the starch industry. The latter 2 markets, however, accounted for only 6.5% of the world production in 1974 (Anonymous, 1977). To an even greater extent than other tuberous crops, cassava is primarily a carbohydrate source containing little protein and as such is often considered as an inferior food. However, in much of the world where severe malnutrition and even starvation exists, the populations suffer not only from protein deficiency but also carbohydrate deficiency. The production of cassava products using traditional methods of preparation goes far to alleviate the problem: indeed it is significant that in areas where cassava is extensively grown, severe famines seldom occur. There are many descriptions of the traditional methods used to prepare foods from the cassava root but most are oriented to particular areas of the world. There is no study of the subject on a worldwide basis. The present paper reviews the literature, bringing together information from all the major cassava-producing areas in order to focus attention on the diversity of the processing techniques and the wide variety of cassava-based foods and beverages that are produced. Cassava leaves are also used as a food particularly in Africa and they are a good supplementary source of proteins and vitamins (Terra, 1964). As such their role in the diet is very different from that of the cassava root and they will not be discussed here. However, there is a need for further studies on the value of cassava leaves in the diet.

P. A. Lancaster

Papers

Traditional cassava-based foods: Survey of processing techniques