HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

''Dioscorea esculenta'', commonly known as the lesser yam, is a yam species native to
Island Southeast Asia Maritime Southeast Asia comprises the countries of Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, and East Timor. Maritime Southeast Asia is sometimes also referred to as Island Southeast Asia, Insular Southeast Asia or Oceanic Sout ...
and introduced to
Near Oceania Near Oceania is the part of Oceania settled 35,000 years ago, comprising Australia, New Guinea, and north-western Island Melanesia: the Bismarck Archipelago and the Solomon Islands. Prehistory The great nineteenth-century naturalist Alfred Rus ...
and
East Africa East Africa, Eastern Africa, or East of Africa, is the eastern subregion of the African continent. In the United Nations Statistics Division scheme of geographic regions, 10-11-(16*) territories make up Eastern Africa: Due to the historica ...
by early Austronesian voyagers. It is grown for their edible
tuber Tubers are a type of enlarged structure used as storage organs for nutrients in some plants. They are used for the plant's perennation (survival of the winter or dry months), to provide energy and nutrients for regrowth during the next growing ...
s, though it has smaller tubers than the more widely-cultivated ''
Dioscorea alata ''Dioscorea alata'', also known as purple yam, ube (, ), or greater yam, among many other names, is a species of yam (a tuber). The tubers are usually a vivid violet-purple to bright lavender in color (hence the common name), but some range in ...
'' and is usually spiny.


Names

In
Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making it ...
, it is called ''khoai từ'' or ''củ từ''. It is used to make
chè ''Chè'' () is any traditional Vietnamese sweet beverage, dessert soup or stew, or pudding. ''Chè'' includes a wide variety of distinct soups or puddings. Varieties of Chè can be made with mung beans, black-eyed peas, kidney beans, tapioca ...
củ từ, also referred to as chè khoai từ. In Tagalog, it is known as ''tugi,'' while in Cebuano it is called ''apali''. It is cultivated in
Kerala Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South C ...
, Goa, Konkan parts of Maharashtra India. In
Malayalam Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian languages, Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry (union territory), Puducherry (Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of 2 ...
, it is known as ''nana kizhangu'' or ''nheruvalli kizhangu'' or Cheru Kizhangu". In Goa it is called ''Kaate Kanaga (काटे कणगा )'', It is a climber which needs support and goes coiling around the support.


History of cultivation

The lesser yam is the second most important yam crop among Austronesians. Like ''D. alata'', it requires minimal processing, unlike the other more bitter yam species. However, it has smaller tubers than ''D. alata'' and is usually spiny. Like ''D. alata'' it was introduced to
Madagascar Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: République de Madagascar), is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately off the coast of East Afric ...
and the
Comoros The Comoros,, ' officially the Union of the Comoros,; ar, الاتحاد القمري ' is an independent country made up of three islands in southeastern Africa, located at the northern end of the Mozambique Channel in the Indian Ocean. ...
by Austronesians, where it spread to the
East Africa East Africa, Eastern Africa, or East of Africa, is the eastern subregion of the African continent. In the United Nations Statistics Division scheme of geographic regions, 10-11-(16*) territories make up Eastern Africa: Due to the historica ...
n coast. They are also a dominant crop in
Near Oceania Near Oceania is the part of Oceania settled 35,000 years ago, comprising Australia, New Guinea, and north-western Island Melanesia: the Bismarck Archipelago and the Solomon Islands. Prehistory The great nineteenth-century naturalist Alfred Rus ...
, However, it did not reach to the furthest islands in Polynesia, being absent in
Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only ...
and
New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island country ...
. Starch grains identified to be from the lesser yam have been recovered from archaeological sites of the
Lapita culture The Lapita culture is the name given to a Neolithic Austronesian people and their material culture, who settled Island Melanesia via a seaborne migration at around 1600 to 500 BCE. They are believed to have originated from the northern Phili ...
in
Viti Levu Viti Levu (pronounced ) is the largest island in the Republic of Fiji. It is the site of the nation's capital, Suva, and home to a large majority of Fiji's population. Geology Fiji lies in a tectonically complex area between the Australian ...
,
Fiji Fiji ( , ,; fj, Viti, ; Fiji Hindi: फ़िजी, ''Fijī''), officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consi ...
, dated to around 3,050 to 2,500 cal BP. ''D. esculenta'' is believed to have been introduced by the Lapita culture into New Guinea, along with agricultural innovations like wet cultivation. Traces of ''D. esculenta'' (along with ''D. alata'', ''D. bulbifera'', ''D. nummularia'' and ''D. pentaphylla'') yams have also been identified from the Mé Auré Cave site in Moindou,
New Caledonia ) , anthem = "" , image_map = New Caledonia on the globe (small islands magnified) (Polynesia centered).svg , map_alt = Location of New Caledonia , map_caption = Location of New Caledonia , mapsize = 290px , subdivision_type = Sovereign st ...
, dated to around 2,700 to 1,800 BP. Remains of ''D. esculenta'' have also been recovered from archaeological sites in
Guam Guam (; ch, Guåhan ) is an organized, unincorporated territory of the United States in the Micronesia subregion of the western Pacific Ocean. It is the westernmost point and territory of the United States (reckoned from the geographic cen ...
, dated to around 1031 CE.


Taxonomy

Belonging to the genus ''
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 extendin ...
'', ''Dioscorea esculenta'' describes the plant's ability to produce edible roots.


Description

The plant's stems are round and thin, with big, black compound spines that are 2–4 cm long. The leaves are soft, heart-shaped, and 5–8 cm long and 6–8 cm wide.


See also

* Domesticated plants and animals of Austronesia * Yam production in Nigeria


References


External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dioscorea esculenta esculenta Yams (vegetable)