Dioscorea trifida
Encyclopedia
The climbing perennial vine Dioscorea trifida is a species of yam
native to the Caribbean and tropical Central and South America. It is known by a variety of common names, including Indian yam, napi, yampie or yampi, name mapuey, aja, cara doce, and cushcush. It is cultivated and eaten as a starch
y root vegetable, but the similar food item cassava
is utilized much more often.
The dioecious
plant is a small tuber which sends out creeping stems with wings and large leaves. It has flowers and small winged fruits containing seeds. The plant may be grown in a similar manner as the potato
. Like other Dioscorea
species, D. trifida contains the distasteful toxic alkaloid dioscorene, which can be eliminated by cooking the tuber.
Yam (vegetable)
Yam is the common name for some species in the genus Dioscorea . These are perennial herbaceous vines cultivated for the consumption of their starchy tubers in Africa, Asia, Latin America and Oceania...
native to the Caribbean and tropical Central and South America. It is known by a variety of common names, including Indian yam, napi, yampie or yampi, name mapuey, aja, cara doce, and cushcush. It is cultivated and eaten as a starch
Starch
Starch or amylum is a carbohydrate consisting of a large number of glucose units joined together by glycosidic bonds. This polysaccharide is produced by all green plants as an energy store...
y root vegetable, but the similar food item cassava
Cassava
Cassava , also called yuca or manioc, a woody shrub of the Euphorbiaceae native to South America, is extensively cultivated as an annual crop in tropical and subtropical regions for its edible starchy tuberous root, a major source of carbohydrates...
is utilized much more often.
The dioecious
Dioecious
Dioecy is the property of a group of biological organisms that have males and females, but not members that have organs of both sexes at the same time. I.e., those whose individual members can usually produce only one type of gamete; each individual organism is thus distinctly female or male...
plant is a small tuber which sends out creeping stems with wings and large leaves. It has flowers and small winged fruits containing seeds. The plant may be grown in a similar manner as the potato
Potato
The potato is a starchy, tuberous crop from the perennial Solanum tuberosum of the Solanaceae family . The word potato may refer to the plant itself as well as the edible tuber. In the region of the Andes, there are some other closely related cultivated potato species...
. Like other Dioscorea
Dioscorea
Dioscorea is a genus of over 600 species of flowering plants in the family Dioscoreaceae, native throughout the tropical and warm temperate regions of the world. The vast majority of the species are tropical, with only a few species extending into temperate climates...
species, D. trifida contains the distasteful toxic alkaloid dioscorene, which can be eliminated by cooking the tuber.