''Goeppertia allouia'' (syn. ''Calathea allouia''), known as lerén or lairén in Spanish, and also known in English as Guinea arrowroot, and sweet corn root, is a plant in the arrowroot family, native to northern South America and the

Caribbean The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Se ...

, The name "allouia" is derived from the Carib name for the plant Leren is a minor food crop in the American tropics, but was one of the earliest plants domesticated by pre-historic Amerindians in South America.

Distribution

''Goeppertia allouia'' is native to Cuba,

Hispaniola Hispaniola (, also ; es, La Española; Latin and french: Hispaniola; ht, Ispayola; tnq, Ayiti or Quisqueya) is an island in the Caribbean that is part of the Greater Antilles. Hispaniola is the most populous island in the West Indies, and th ...

, Puerto Rico, the Lesser Antilles, Trinidad & Tobago, Venezuela,

Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...

, Ecuador, Peru and Brazil. It is reportedly naturalized in Jamaica Leren has been introduced as a minor root crop in tropical regions around the world.

Description

Leren is a perennial plant, approximately in height. It produces egg-shaped tuberous roots to long at the end of fibrous roots. The leaves are large, up to long and wide. Indigenous people of the Americas have used the durable leaves to make traditional medicines and as baby clothing. Leren usually reproduces itself through

rhizomes In botany and dendrology, a rhizome (; , ) is a modified subterranean plant stem that sends out roots and shoots from its nodes. Rhizomes are also called creeping rootstalks or just rootstalks. Rhizomes develop from axillary buds and grow hori ...

which produce shoots and new plants.

Cultivation

Leren is adapted to a tropical climate with alternating rainy and dry seasons. It sprouts with the first rains and grows rapidly, forming tubers which are harvested as the foliage begins to die back eight or nine months after the initial sprouting. The rhizomes, harvested at the same time, are tolerant of both drying and flooding, and divided and replanted again at the onset of the rainy season. Frequent irrigation is necessary during dry periods. Leren is often planted in shade or partial shade but can grow in full sun with adequate moisture and nutrients. Leren is traditionally cultivated on a small scale. Its cultivation is declining as it has been replaced by other crops.

Food

Leren is usually cooked by boiling the tubers for 15 to 60 minutes, As food, leren is often compared to water chestnut (

Eleocharis dulcis ''Eleocharis dulcis'', the Chinese water chestnut or water chestnut, is a grass-like sedge native to Asia, tropical Africa, and Oceania. It is grown in many countries for its edible corms. The water chestnut is not a nut, but an aquatic ve ...

) because leren, like the water chestnut, retains its crispness despite being cooked. Boiled leren has a taste similar to

sweet corn Sweet corn (''Zea mays'' convar. ''saccharata'' var. ''rugosa''), also called sugar corn and pole corn, is a variety of maize grown for human consumption with a high sugar content. Sweet corn is the result of a naturally occurring recessive muta ...

, hence one of its common English names. The cooked tuber is covered with a thin, edible skin which is most easily peeled after cooking. Leren is mostly eaten as an

hors d'oeuvre An hors d'oeuvre ( ; french: hors-d'œuvre ), appetiser or starter is a small dish served before a meal in European cuisine. Some hors d'oeuvres are served cold, others hot. Hors d'oeuvres may be served at the dinner table as a part of the m ...

or appetizer. Leren tubers can be stored at room temperatures for up to three months, but do not tolerate refrigeration well. The nutritional value of leren has not been thoroughly studied, but the tubers have a starch content of 13-15 percent and a protein content of 6.6 percent.

Prehistoric domestication

Archaeologists Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscap ...

have discovered that leren was one of the first plants domesticated in prehistoric South America. Leren, along with arrowroot ('' Maranta arundinacea''), squash ('' Cucurbita moschata''), and bottle gourd ('' Lagenaria siceraria'') were being eaten and possibly cultivated in Colombia by about 9000 BCE. It appears that the cultivation of leren spread to places where it was not likely native. For example, the people of the Las Vegas culture on the arid and semi-arid Santa Elena Peninsula of Ecuador likely grew leren by about 9000 BCE. Leren was being grown to be eaten raw, dried, or ground into flour.Piperno, S-458-459

References

{{Taxonbar, from2=Q5018563, from1=Q50841670 allouia Root vegetables Edible plants Plants described in 1829 Flora of Cuba Flora of Haiti Flora of the Dominican Republic Flora of Puerto Rico Flora of the Windward Islands Flora of the Leeward Islands Flora of Trinidad and Tobago Flora of Venezuela Flora of Colombia Flora of Ecuador Flora of Peru Flora of Brazil Plants used in Native American cuisine Early agriculture in Mesoamerica Tropical agriculture Mesoamerican cuisine Native American cuisine Crops originating from South America Flora without expected TNC conservation status