Yacón

Yacón

The Yacón is a perennial plant traditionally grown in the Northern and Central Andes from Ecuador to Argentina for its crisp, sweet-tasting tuberous roots. The texture and flavour are very similar to jicama mainly differing in that yacon has some slightly sweet resinous and floral undertones to...

 syrup is a sweetening agent extracted from the tuberous roots of the yacón plant (Smallanthus sonchifolius) indigenous to the Andes

Andes

The Andes is the world's longest continental mountain range. It is a continual range of highlands along the western coast of South America. This range is about long, about to wide , and of an average height of about .Along its length, the Andes is split into several ranges, which are separated...

 mountains.

It was used by the Incas. In Peru

Peru

Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....

, people eat yacon because of its nutritional properties—few calories and low sugar levels. In Bolivia

Bolivia

Bolivia officially known as Plurinational State of Bolivia , is a landlocked country in central South America. It is the poorest country in South America...

, yacón roots are eaten by people with diabetes or other digestive and renal disorders. Whereas In Brazil

Brazil

Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...

, the dried leaves are used to make yacón tea, said to be antidiabetic.

The syrup contains up to 50% of FOS

Fructooligosaccharide

Fructooligosaccharides also sometimes called oligofructose or oligofructan, are oligosaccharide fructans, used as an alternative sweetener. FOS exhibits sweetness levels between 30 and 50 percent of sugar in commercially-prepared syrups...

 (fructooligosacharides). The consumption of FOS does not increase blood glucose

Glucose

Glucose is a simple sugar and an important carbohydrate in biology. Cells use it as the primary source of energy and a metabolic intermediate...

.

It is usually made with an evaporator

Evaporator

An evaporator is a device used to turn the liquid form of some chemical into its gaseous form. For example, an evaporator is used in an air conditioning system to allow the compressed cooling chemical to evaporate from liquid to gas, absorbing heat in the process.-Uses:As stated above, an...

, like the ones used to make maple syrup

Maple syrup

Maple syrup is a syrup usually made from the xylem sap of sugar maple, red maple, or black maple trees, although it can also be made from other maple species such as the bigleaf maple. In cold climates, these trees store starch in their trunks and roots before the winter; the starch is then...

. It has a taste similar to molasses

Molasses

Molasses is a viscous by-product of the processing of sugar cane, grapes or sugar beets into sugar. The word molasses comes from the Portuguese word melaço, which ultimately comes from mel, the Latin word for "honey". The quality of molasses depends on the maturity of the sugar cane or sugar beet,...

 or caramel

Caramel

Caramel is a beige to dark-brown confection made by heating any of a variety of sugars. It is used as a flavoring in puddings and desserts, as a filling in bonbons, and as a topping for ice cream, custard and coffee....

ized sugar. In a study by Yoshida et al. (2002), an enzyme solution of yacon was determined to be a better antioxidant than enzyme solutions of potato, mushroom, eggplant and edible burdock

Burdock

Burdock is any of a group of biennial thistles in the genus Arctium, family Asteraceae. Native to the Old World, several species have been widely introduced worldwide....

.

In a study by Gentaa et al.it was shown that a daily intake of yacon syrup produced a significant decrease in body weight, waist circumferance and body mass index when given to obese pre-menopausal women.