ARRACACHA

Costa Rican Vegetables
ARRACACHA
Taxonomy
a.
Family- Apiaceae, Arracacia xanthorrhiza.
b.
Andean native.
Description
a. PLANT: The green to bronze colored leaves are
divided into 3-7 leaflets with serrated margins.
They emerge from long petioles similar to celery in
a rosette fashion from a cylindrical stem
approximately 10 cm high with a 10 cm diameter.
b. FLOWERS: Umbels with small purple flowers.
c. EDIBLE PORTION: The tuber is a fleshy,
underground storage organ being 5-25 cm in
length and 8 cm in diameter. Colors range from
white to yellow. It is harvested botanically
premature, about 4 months after planting.
Food value, commercial usage
a. Vegetable- It can be eaten raw, but when cooked, its flavor has been described
as “a delicate blend of celery, cabbage, and roasted chestnuts.” This root is
basically used in any way a potato is used: dumplings, gnocchi, coarse flour,
fried chips, biscuits, etc. It is a good food source for babies because it is highly
digestible. Young stems can be eaten as greens, and the leaves are commonly
used for livestock feed.
b. Nutrition- It is rich
in carbohydrates,
calcium, other
vitamins and
minerals, and in the
yellow cultivars,
beta-carotene.
Costa Rican Vegetables
Breadfruit
I.
Taxonomy
Family Moraceae
Artocarpus altilis
The breadfruit is indigenous to
the South Pacific and
Southeast Asia.
II.
Description
Plant: Tall tree of 12m or
larger. Sensitive to cold and thrive only in tropical lowlands.
Leaves: Large, distinctive, deeply lobed leaves.
Fruit: A large, multiple fruit which is formed from an entire flower cluster is usually
rounded in shape. It has a green, relatively smooth skin that becomes yellowish as it
ripens.
There are two types: The breadfruit the ordinary seedless type and the breadnut which
has large edible seeds.
III.
Food value, usage
Both breadfruit and breadnut have to be cooked.
They have no distinct flavor and are mainly a starch source.
They are used to “stretch” a curry or stew and absorb the flavor of the met and other
foods.
Breadfruit contains 25% carbohydrates; it also supplies small amounts of minerals and
vitamins.
Costa Rican Vegetables
CARROT
Taxonomy
a.
Family- Apiaceae, Daucus carota
b.
Native to Afghanistan.
c.
If garden carrots’ seed is collected and
sown the next season, the plant is
reverted to its native form, similar to
what is known as Queen Anne’s Lace.
d.
The 4 common cultivars in western
markets include: Imperator (the most commonly seen), Nantes, Danvers
(often used for baby food puree), and Chantenay (typically diced for
canned and prepared foods).
Description
a.
PLANT: A rosette of leaves grows from seed, or the taproot.
b.
FLOWERS: A biennial, it flowers the second year with an umbel
inflorescence, after spending the previous year storing energy in its large
taproot. Is used for seed collection, flowers are typically bee pollinated,
creating another source of revenue for farmers.
c.
EDIBLE PORTION: The woody textured taproot, varying in colors from
orange to white.
Food value, commercial usage
a.
Vegetable- The taproot can be eaten raw or cooked in a variety of culinary
ways. It is highly processed, being jarred, canned, frozen, and as an
ingredient in prepared foods or meals.
b.
They have been breed to contain a wide variety of pigments that produce
colors of orange, yellow, white,
maroon, and purple.
c.
Nutritionally, the carrot is famed
for its beta-carotene, which
causes the orange coloration,
and is a prerequisite for Vitamin
A. Carrots are also high in fiber,
antioxidants, and minerals.
Carrots, bred for a white color,
are high in tocopherol (Vitamin
E).
Costa Rican Vegetables
Cassava
I.
Taxonomy
•
Euphorbiaceae family, with rubber and
poinsettias. Manihot esculenta.
Native to Brazil and Paraguay, now grown
pantropically.
•
II. Description
Plant: The cassava plant is a tall (6-8 ft),
semi-woody perennial, with fairly large,
palmately compound leaves.
Tuber: The edible, tuberous roots reach
anywhere from 8-30 inches in length
and are 1-3 inches wide. They contain
white or yellowish flesh surrounded by
a thick, brown, detachable rind.
Flowers: Separate male and female flowers,
both very different in appearance. The staminate flowers are white to red with
darker red insides, while the pistillate flowers are green.
Fruit: The cassava fruit is round, oblong, and winged. The color changes from a green to
a dark brown as the fruit matures. Each fruit contains 3 seeds.
Food value, usage
• Cassava contains 25 – 30% starch and is one of the major sources of calories in the
tropics. It is also high in vitamin C. Tubers are low in protein; must supplement w/
other foods to maintain a balanced diet.
• Tubers come in two varieties—bitter and sweet. The bitter contains cyanide and must
be processed before consumption. Can be used in commercial production of cyanide.
• Cassava tubers are ground into flour that can replace wheat flour.
• The juice can be developed into cauim, a mild alcoholic beverage popular in parts of
the tropics. The concentrated juice is flavored into a substance called cassareep, used
to flavor meats and other foods.
• Cassava is the source of tapioca, made by grinding the tubers in water and boiling
away the excess liquid.
• The leaves of the plant are also edible, served in a way similar to spinach; high in
vitamin A.
• The plant is used in substances like starch, soaps, glue, sugar, and acetone.
• Cassava leaves and stem meal are fed to livestock.
Costa Rican Vegetables
CHAYOTE
Taxonomy
a. Family- Curcurbitaceae, Sechium
edule
b. Domesticated in Mexico by Aztecs
and Mayans.
Description
a. PLANT: Much like other cucurbits,
have large leaves with 3 points, and
climbs with tendrils.
b. FLOWERS: Small, 5-petaled flower typically of cucurbits.
c. FRUIT: Pear-shaped fruit has white flesh around a flattened seed, wrapped in a
thin green, wrinkled skin. It has a bland taste, described as a cross between a
potato and a cucumber.
Food value, commercial usage
a. Vegetable- The fruit is horticulturally a vegetable and can be eaten raw, boiled,
stuffed, mashed, baked, fried, or pickled. The starchy root can also be eaten by
man or as animal fodder. The roots are diced and fried with sweet peppers,
sliced and dipped in egg batter before frying, or cooked with meat dishes
b. The fruit and seed as high in Vitamin C and amino acids. The leaves and fruit
can be used as a diuretic, for cardiovascular health, or anti-inflammatory. The
leaves can also be used in a tea for arteriosclerosis, hypertension, and to aid in
dissolving kidney stones.
Costa Rican Vegetables
COMMON BEAN
Taxonomy
a. Family- Fabaceae, Phaseolus vulgaris
b. Origin of America’s.
c. Common varieties include: Snap or String,
Shell, Pinto or mottled, White, Red, Black,
Pink, and Yellow.
Description
a. PLANT: Bush varieties grow 20-60 cm in height while vining types reach 2-3 m.
Alternate green or purple leaflets in 3’s have smooth margins.
b. FLOWERS: Small white, pink, or purple flowers produce green, black, yellow , or
purple pods, 8-20 cm long.
c. FRUIT: The eaten seed is plump and kidney shaped and often mottled with two
different colors. They are held within a pod that may or may not be commonly
eaten.
Food value, commercial usage
a. Vegetable- Beans must be boiled at least 10 minutes before eating to destroy the
toxic lectin phytohaemmagglutinin which can cause severe gastric irritation. This
is not typically a concern, however, since beans must soak in water for 4-10
hours and then be boiled in water for 1-3
hours. Commercial beans are most often
precooked and canned, but can also be
found fresh, frozen, and in a diverse
selection of processed foods and soups.
b. Nutrition- Beans are high in dietary fiber and
are also a great source of vegetable protein,
though not a complete protein alone, is
essential to the complete protein of the
Three Sisters with corn and squash.
Costa Rican Vegetables
CRUCIFERS (Broccoli & Cauliflower)
Taxonomy
a. Family- Brassicaceae, Brassica oleracea
b. Mediterranean native.
c. In the Simpsons, Treehouse of Horror XI, Homer is killed
by eating broccoli, and Dr. Hibbert claims after the
autopsy that it is one of the deadliest plants, warning
people with its bad taste.
Description
a. PLANT: This cool weather annual crop, falls apart
when the weather warms—but will often be in
flower at this point and bitter flavors can quickly
develop in the stalk. The principle difference between
broccoli and cauliflower is that cauliflower’s flower buds and
stalk are blanched by physically tying the leaves over the
developing flower heads blocking sunlight, leading to a lack of chlorophyll, toning
down the flavor.
b. FLOWERS: A crown of edible flower buds would each open into four petals, but
is harvested botanically immature.
c. EDIBLE PORTION: The flower buds and the pedicle, which is a thick stalk-like
structure, are eaten.
Food value, commercial usage
a. Vegetable- Stalks with buds are popular raw and cooked in a wide assortment of
recipes.
b. Broccoli and cauliflower are high in soluble fiber, vitamin C, and glucoraphanin, a
powerful antioxidant against cancer after it is metabolized to sulfurophane.
Costa Rican Vegetables
ONION
Taxonomy
a. Family- Alliaceae, Allium cepa
b. Native to the areas surrounding Palestine and
into Egypt. It was worshipped by ancient
Egyptians from their thought that the onions
concentric rings symbolized eternal life. Onions
were used in the eye sockets of King Ramesses
IV with the thought that the strong scent of onion
would bring back breath to the dead.
Description
a. PLANT: Not of economic importance. Leaves
emerge in the spring as tall hollow grass-like
structures. Propagation is done often by seed or
by bulblets where seed is sown closely together
and the small plants produce small bulbs—but
this allegedly leads to off flavors and smaller onions.
b. FLOWERS: Not of economic importance, except in ornamental varieties. Emerge
when foliage begins to die, and bloom as an umbel—appearing like a large seed
head on dandelions.
c. EDIBLE PORTION: The bulb is a swollen portion of the stem at the plants base
where nutrient reserves over winter and then continue growing the next season.
Food value, commercial usage
a. Vegetable- Bulbs are typically cooked so that the sharp pungency of amino acid
sulfoxides which produce the acrid flavor are more mild. Commercially, onions
can be purchased fresh, frozen, canned, or dehydrated and are constituents in
many processed foods.
b. They contain anti-inflammatory, anticholesterol, anticancer, and antioxidant
components. They have also shown some
effectiveness in fighting colds, heart
disease, diabetes, and osteoporosis.
Costa Rican Vegetables
Peach Palm or Pejibaye
I. Taxonomy
•
•
•
•
Bactris gasipaes (pejivalle, piva)
Arecaceae fam ily
Indigenous to Am azonia, spread into central
Am erica by Indians.
Grown throughout Central and South Am erica
in hot, wet lowlands to 1000 m . Propagated
from seed or suckers; spineless selections
are available to perm it easy clim bing.
II. Description.
•
•
•
Plant: Erect, rapid growing palm to 15 m , often
with m ultiple trunks .8 inches thick. The trunk has
long, sharp, black, num erous spines.
Flowers: Monoecious or herm aphroditic, flowers
borne in spadices 8-12 inches long.
Fruit: Borne in clusters of 50-100, weighing 25 lbs or
m ore. Bearing begins in 6-8 years from seed.
Fruit color varies from yellow-scarlet when
im m ature to purple at m aturity; Ovoid or conical,
1-2 inches long, persistent cup-shaped calyx at
base (3-lobed). Flesh is yellowish, sweet,
occasionally bitter, dry, and m ealy. A single
conical seed (3/4 inch) is found in the center;
som e types parthenocarpic.
III. Food value, usage
•
•
•
Fruits are high in fat and fiber, low in
water, com pared to other fresh
fruit.
Fruits are often fed to poultry and
livestock.
Another food product, “heart o’ palm ”
is derived from the large apical
m eristem of the palm , on
plantations of low-growing trees
(2-3 m ). Costa Rica is a m ajor
producer of heart ‘ palm .
Costa Rican Vegetables
PEPPER
Taxonomy
a. Family- Solanaceae, Capsicum annuum
b. Cultivated originally throughout South-Central
America.
c. Other species of importance include C.
baccatum, C. chinense, C. frutescens, and C.
pubescens.
Description
a. PLANT: Alternate, elliptic, simple, smooth
edged leaves, ~2-4 feet tall.
b. FLOWERS: White to greenish white, typically
on a pedicel, solitary or in groups of 2-3, with 5 lobes and wheel shaped.
c. FRUIT: Pod shaped hollow berry, with an empty cavity, ranging in colors from
green to red to black. All are edible with varying degrees
Food value, commercial usage
a. Vegetable- Fruit is used in a wide array of raw and cooked manors for food. May
be preserved by canning or drying.
b. Spices- Fruit may be ground and dried or used to take extracts to create sauces
which are kept edible with various synthetic and natural preservatives.
c. Medicine- Modern societies use the chemical Capsaicin, which causes the spicy
sensation and found in highest concentrations in the placental tissue, principally
in topical applications as a pain reliever and circulatory stimulant. Capsaicin has
also been used as a laxative and been linked to preventing prostate cancer.
Traditional uses include these as well as against ailments caused by
microbes—showing capsicum’s
potential for anti-microbial activity.
Costa Rican Vegetables
Potatoes
I.
•
•
•
Taxonomy
Family Solanaceae, Solanum
tuberosum.
The world’s most important non-cereal
crop.
Originally from the Andes (Peru); now
grown worldwide
II. Description
Plant: Sprawling, herbaceous plant similar to tomato, reaching 1 m. Pinnately
compound leaves 10” long, leaflets 3”. Leaves and stems are poisonous.
Tubers: Tubers (modified underground stems used for storage) vary in shape, size
and color, and store starch primarily. The tubers are the only edible part of the
plant.
Flowers: Flowers can be white, pink, lavender, or light blue, with yellow centers,
about 1” diam, star-shaped, borne in small axillary clusters.
Fruit: Small, spherical, 1” fruit resemble a small green tomato. Contains several
hundred small seeds. Fruit is poisonous.
Food value, usage
•
•
•
Potatoes are high in carbohydrates, mostly starch, with 278 calories in an ordinary
potato. They contain small amounts of protein, minerals (e.g. K), and vitamin C.
Potatoes feed both people and animals, being commonly used as fodder for herds
and livestock.
Potato plants have high concentrations of solanine, a poisonous chemical. Though
the tubers are edible, even they can become poisonous if allowed to rot or if eaten in
massive quantities. Cultivated potatoes are bred to have low solanine levels.
Costa Rican Vegetables
SQUASHES
Taxonomy
a. Family- Curcurbitaceae, Curcurbita
maxima (large winter squash,
buttercup, have a spongy peduncle. .
.), C. pepo (yellow squash, zucchini,
pumpkin, acorn squash, spaghetti
squash . . .), C. moschata (butternut . .
.), C. mixta (cushaw varieties).
b. North American native.
c. Squash can be broadly categorized as
winter or summer, depending on the
season they are harvested.
Description
a. PLANT: Non-climbing vine, sprawls over the
ground. From this habit it works as a ground cover
to repress weeds and was apart of native’s three
sisters along with corn and beans.
b. FLOWERS: Five, fused yellow petals create a tube
like flower that must be pollinated, or the newly
developing fruit will often be aborted. Honeybees
are the popular choice since they produce a
second harvestable product. Traditional the squash
bee pollinated the flower, but their populations
have declined, presumably from heavy pesticide
use.
c. FRUIT: A pepo, or hard-rind berry. Summer
squash is harvested premature, winter
squash at the end of the summer when
it is more mature and left in a cool
place to harden off the skin.
Food value, commercial usage
a. Vegetable- Fruit can be eaten raw,
more common with the summer
squash, or in a wide variety of cooked
recipes. Seeds can also be eaten raw,
cooked, crushed into a paste, or used
to extract oil. Shoots, leaves, and
tendrils are also edible. Flowers are
often used in many culinary dishes,
often stuffed and fried.
b. Two common pests are squash vine
borer and squash bug.
Costa Rican Vegetables
Taro
(Tiquisque & Ñampi)
Taxonomy
• Family Araceae, Closely related to
elephant ear, caladium.
• Cultivated for over 6,000 years in the
swampy regions of southeastern
Asia
• A traditional staple in many tropical
regions, particularly Hawaii, Pacific
islands.
•
•
•
•
•
Asian version (Colocasia esculenta)
• Dasheen, poi, tiquisque
American version
• yautia - malanga - chamol ñampi (Xanthosoma spp)
Toxic if not properly prepared
Many ornamentals in this family
Elephant's ear (Alocasia), caladium,
anthurium, etc.
Description
Plant: A terrestrial aroid, with large, arrowhead-shaped leaves growing in clusters, up to
3 ft. Stems are short, thick and purple. Like all aroids, leaves emerge from the
petiole sheath of the previous leaf.
Corm: Taro has a short underground stem called a corm, which is starchy, thick,
reaching 6” in diameter. It is top-shaped, with rough ridges, small roots, brown
skin, and white or pinky inner flesh.
Flowers: A long, erect stalk sprouts from the center of the leaf cluster. A false leaf,
called a spathe, grows up to surround and protect and inner cluster of flowers.
The cluster has male flowers towards the top and female flowers towards the
bottom.
Food value, usage
• While taro is very valuable as a food plant, it cannot be eaten raw, as the plant cells
contain raphides, needlelike forms of calcium oxalate. These irritants can cause
gastrointestinal diseases if a person consumes large quantities of unprocessed taro.
• The corm of the taro is high in starch and is popular in many tropical dishes, such as
poi, a paste-like food from the Pacific islands. The young leaves are eaten like
spinach.
• Due to its appealing visual nature, taro has common usage as an ornamental plant.
• Some of the juices from the leaves and stems are used as dyes.
• Taro has a wide variety of medicinal uses.
Costa Rican Vegetables
TOMATO
Taxonomy
a. Family- Solanaceae, Solanum lycopersicum
b. Cultivated originally throughout South-Central America (Peru-Mexico).
c. The word tomato comes from the word tomatl, of the Nahuatl language, a
member of Aztecan, from central Mexico.
Description
a. PLANT: Short lived perennial, cultivated as an
annual. 1-3 meters in height, weakly woody
stem, similar to a vine in its sprawling habit.
Pinnate leaves, 10-25 cm long with 5-9 leaflets,
up to 8 cm long with serrated margins. Leaves
and stems have dense pubescence of
glandular trichomes.
b. FLOWERS: Five, yellow pointed lobes create
the bloom 1-2 cm across, coming from a cyme
in groups of 3-12.
c. FRUIT: Produced determinately in many nodes
in a single flush (primarily commercial) or indeterminately in the terminal nodes
as the plant continues to lengthen. The edible plant portion is a large, bright red
colored berry from the pigment lycopene, with a diameter of 1-2 cm in wild
species, but up to 10-20 cm in some domesticated varieties. Seeds are held in a
gelatinous matrix within each ocular cavity separated by dense fleshy tissue.
Food value, commercial usage
a. Vegetable- Fruit can be eaten raw or
cooked and is used in processing by
canning or jarring raw or flavored fruits, or
in sauces and juices. Also used largely as
a dehydrated and frozen food/sauce in the
frozen food industry.
b. Medicine- High in vitamin C. The most
well known medicinal value is from the
pigment Lycopene, a powerful antioxidant,
which has been proven to fight against
prostate cancer.
Costa Rican Vegetables
TRUE YAMS (Ñame)
Taxonomy
a. Family- Dioscoreaceae, Dioscorea sp.
b. Independent cultivation origins in Africa, South
America, and Asia.
c. The slang of ‘Yam’ for sweet potato in the US is a
misnomer since sweet potatoes (Ipomoea batatas)
are a totally different species.
Description
a. PLANT: Twining vine with a cordate shaped leaf and
prominent veins.
b. FLOWERS: Not of commercial importance.
c. EDIBLE PORTION: A large tuber, weighing up to
120 lbs and being 7 feet long, it is covered in a
tough skin that softens when heated for easy
peeling. Certain species, particularly African ones,
are poisonous if consumed raw, but all, excluding
certain Asian varieties, are cooked to remove bitter alkaloids. Colors range from
the typical white or pale yellow to orange.
Food value, commercial usage
a. Vegetable- A staple food crop to
many native cultures, it is thought
of as a potato substitute, though in
these areas the potato was
introduced long after cultivation of
yams. It is cut julienne and briefly
soaked in vinegar and eaten raw in
some Asian meals. More
commonly, it is chopped and
grilled, baked, or fried, or ground
into a paste and cooked to create a
rice-like consistency.
b. Medicinal- The alkaloid diosgenin
is the most significant in terms of
commercial value. It is a precursor
for different hormonal drugs and
makes up roughly 50% of the raw
material for cortisone,
progesterone, and contraceptives.