Not many have heard of the taro vegetable, which is also called colocasia. This amazing plant grows in countries with hot climates. In our country, few know what taro is - a fruit or a vegetable? It is very popular among residents of Africa and Asia, who prepare various dishes from it. The taro vegetable and its features will be discussed in this review.
general description
What is taro vegetable? This is a fairly popular plant in Africa and Southeast Asia, which is eaten. It is also called "ancient colocasia" or "edible colocasia." This is a perennial herbaceous plant belonging to the genus Colocasia.
Taro vegetable has a fibrous root system. As it grows, it forms a rather large tuber underground, which has a diameter of 5 to 8.5 cm and a mass of up to 4.5 kg. There are many buds on the roots, some of them begin to sprout, forming new, secondary, but small tubers.
The pulp of the tubers of the taro vegetable, depending on the variety, may have yellow, cream, pink, red or orange color.
Botanical characteristic
The plant has large leaves swept or heart-shaped. Growing up they reach a height of 1 m, and a width of up to 50 cm. The leaves form a basal rosette on the petioles having a long grooved shape. These petioles usually reach a length of about two meters.
From the apical bud on the tuber, as the plant grows, a flower-bearing shoot develops. The inflorescence has an ear with a yellow-green “veil”. Its upper flowers are masculine, the lower are feminine, and the middle are rudimentary, sterile. The fruits are small red berries with underdeveloped seeds.
Distribution history
The taro plant is also called "gave" Chinese potato, or in the Japanese manner "satoimo", which means "village potato". It is believed that the taro first appeared in India, and then spread eastward from Burma, China, and then directly south to Indonesia itself.
After that, he came to Japan, Polynesia, Melanesia, and even to Hawaii. In the Middle Ages, it continued to spread in Africa and the Caribbean. Taro vegetable feels comfortable in subtropical and tropical regions.
Today it is cultivated in the countries of North and West Africa, India and China. On most islands of the Pacific Ocean and in Papua (New Guinea), the tubers of this plant are a staple food.
Composition and nutritional value
The taro vegetable tastes like a potato, but with a hint of vanilla. It contains a large number of substances useful to humans. 100 grams of tubers contain:
- Vitamin B 6 - 0.293 mg;
- vitamin E - 2.5 mg;
- carbohydrates - 27.5 mg;
- Manganese - 0.40 mg;
- copper - 0.18 mg;
- potassium - 0.615 mg.
It also contains amino acids:
- tryptophan - 0.025 mg;
- leucine - 0.115 mg;
- isoleucine - 0.055 mg;
- lysine - 0.07 mg;
- threonine - 0.072 mg.
Tarot has a rather unusual taste for Europeans. The combination of sweet vanilla and potatoes form an off-standard taste. Also in it there are nutty and even chestnut notes. However, people have created a variety of dishes with many spices that change this dish beyond recognition.
Calorie content and recommendations
The calorie content of taro is 116 kcal per 100 grams of vegetable. In addition to its rich nutritional and vitamin value, it has other advantages. Doctors recommend eating taro as a prophylactic against a number of diseases, for example:
- to prevent cancer;
- with rheumatoid arthritis;
- to lower blood pressure;
- to improve the digestive and immune systems.
And also it is recommended for use to stimulate the work of the heart muscle, to improve vision and prevention of diabetes.
Tubers
The taro vegetable is fleshy and massive. This is a starchy fruit called a corm. Vegetables are quite different from each other in shape and size. Basically they are round or cylindrical oblong, reaching a length of up to 35 cm and having a diameter of about 15 cm. Quite often, tubers are surrounded by small secondary corms or processes.
Taro vegetable tubers consist of a core, “bark” and peel. The latter has a rough and fibrous brown texture. It is covered with peculiar rings of leaf scars.
Fruit color varies by variety. It can be white, purple, pinkish or yellow. One bush of the plant produces several fruits weighing an average of about 1 kg, but there can be a crop with tubers weighing up to 3.5 kg.
Using
Taro vegetable corms are very rich in mucus, which is why they are used in the pulp and paper industry, as well as in the manufacture of tablets. Locals often make taro mash, which is sweet and sour in taste. Livestock (pigs, sheep, cows, goats) are fed with tubers of wild tarot varieties. Boiled tubers can be compared with corn in calories, which serves as a good source of energy for livestock.
Petioles and leaves of taro vegetable are used in the manufacture of various dyes. This plant is often used in landscape design when decorating house areas. The fiber that is obtained from the fruit serves as a material for wickerwork. In the photo of the taro plant, you can see its unusual and peculiar beauty.
Juice of leaves and petioles has a hemostatic and also stimulating effect on the human body. Tuber juice is used as a laxative, analgesic and sedative. It is also used as an antidote to snake, wasp, bee and other insect bites.
Here is such an unusual vegetable in every respect. The taro plant is unique in its taste and characteristics, as well as its various uses.