Wikipedia

Root vegetable

(Redirected from Edible root)

Root vegetables are underground plant parts eaten by humans as food. In agricultural and culinary terminology, the term applies to true roots such as taproots and tuberous roots as well as non-roots such as bulbs, corms, rhizomes, and stem tubers.[1]

Carrot roots in various shapes and colors

Description

edit

Root vegetables are generally storage organs, enlarged to store energy in the form of carbohydrates. They differ in the concentration and balance of starches, sugars, and other carbohydrates.

List of root vegetables

edit

The following list classifies root vegetables organized by their roots' anatomy.

Modified plant stem

edit
Further information: Plant stem
 
Taro corms
 
Ginger rhizomes
 
Yam tubers

Root-like stem

edit

True root

edit
Further information: root
 
Turnips, a taproot
 
Cassava tuberous roots

Uses

edit

Many root vegetables keep well in root cellars, lasting several months. This is one way of storing food for use long after harvest, which is especially important in nontropical latitudes, where winter is traditionally a time of little to no harvesting. There are also season extension methods that can extend the harvest throughout the winter, mostly through the use of polytunnels.

Starchy root vegetables are of particular economic importance as staple foods, especially in tropical regions. They overshadow cereals throughout much of Central and West Africa, as well as Oceania, in these areas being used directly or mashed to make foods such as fufu or poi.

References

edit
  1. ^ López Camelo, Andrés F. (2004). Manual for the Preparation and Sale of Fruits and Vegetables. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. p. 6. ISBN 92-5-104991-2. Retrieved 2009-07-31. However, in the case of potatoes (Figure 10), sweet potatoes, and other root vegetables, readiness for harvest is based on the percentage of tubers of a specific size. Potatoes are technically tubers, not roots, and sweet potatoes are tuberous roots.
edit
 
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Root vegetables.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Root_vegetable&oldid=1255609958"