Page 81 - Winter2017

Food Feature

CASSAVA: A VERSATILE AND SATISFYING GRAIN-FREE OPTION
By Megan Stevens

Cassava is a root vegetable native to the Americas. Cassava (scien- vertigo, vomiting and collapse within four to five
tific name Manihot esculenta, Crantz) goes by many common names, hours. The customary treatment is an injection
including yuca or yucca, manioc and Brazilian arrowroot. (Additional of thiosulfate, which allows the patient’s body
Brazilian names include mandioca, aipim or macaxeira). Tapioca (in to detoxify by converting the poisonous cyanide
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North America) refers to the starch extracted from the cassava root. into thiocyanate.
The earliest firm evidence for cassava cultivation comes from a Mayan
site dating back fourteen hundred years. Brazilians in the Amazon region TRADITIONAL CASSAVA PREPARATION
may have domesticated cassava directly from a wild plant. In the sixteenth Fortunately, there are ways to neutralize the
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century, Portuguese traders from Brazil introduced cassava to Africa. cyanide and also reduce cassava’s phytic acid
In the present day, cassava is a staple food for over half a billion content (see Phytic Acid Content of Cassava,
people worldwide. Over ninety countries cultivate cassava, which is page 82). Notably, the enzyme linamarase is
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the third most common complex carbohydrate consumed (after rice and naturally occurring within cassava and “acts on
maize) in Asia, Africa and Central and South America. Nigeria is the the [cyanide] glucosides when the cells are rup-
world’s largest cassava producer. As a crop, cassava is drought-tolerant tured.” Many cultures traditionally have soaked
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and can handle acidic soil and the removal of its leaves by pests. their cassava roots in water, grinding them into
a paste and spreading the paste out in the sun.
CASSAVA’S PROPERTIES Within five hours, the linamarase breaks down
There are both sweet and bitter varieties of cassava, with the sweet almost 85 percent of the cyanide, allowing the
varieties more commonly grown for consumption. Both varieties contain cyanogenic glucosides to convert to hydrogen
antinutrients—the bitter varieties to a far greater extent. In addition, cyanide (HCN), which then evaporates.
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cassava contains natural- Other traditional
ly occurring toxins called practices include peel-
cyanides or “cyanogenic ing the root and soaking,
glucosides” (the plant toxins boiling, dehydrating and/
linamarin and lotaustralin), or fermenting the cassava.
which concentrate heavily in Although peeling and
the peel but also are present in thorough cooking gener-
the flesh. Interestingly, cas- ally are sufficient to make
sava grown during times of the sweet varieties safe for
drought is much more toxic. consumption, the bitter
A moderate intake of cas- varieties require more
sava’s cyanide compounds steps to make them edible,
(such as those also found in such as squeezing, press-
apple cores and the pits of ing and fermenting.
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stone fruits) can produce a Fufu and gari are
headache followed by mild examples of traditional
heart palpitations. In the absence of proper preparation techniques (dis- foods that safely reduce cyanogenic compounds
cussed in the next section), a number of more serious health conditions using fermentation. Both are important staples
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also can result from overconsumption of the cyanide found in cassava. 3,6,7,8 in Africa. Preparation of fufu involves mashing
These conditions include goiter, pancreatitis and a neurological disorder cassava root and allowing the cassava to fer-
called ataxia or konzo, which affects the ability to walk. A person who ment with Lactobacillus bacteria. Gari calls
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experiences severe cyanide poisoning will exhibit symptoms such as for peeling, grating, draining, pressing and

WINTER 2017 Wise Traditions 81