Cyperus esculentus
L.
Yellow Nutsedge, Tiger nut
(c) Cin-Ty Lee, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Cin-Ty Lee
(c) Michael J. Papay, some rights reserved (CC BY), uploaded by Michael J. Papay
(c) Douglas Goldman, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), uploaded by Douglas Goldman
What to Eat
Edible parts: Tubers, Oil, Bulb, Vegetable, Root, Coffee
Tubers are the primary food resource and can be eaten raw, cooked, or dried and ground into a powder. They have a delicious nut-like flavour but are rather chewy with a tough skin, tasting best when dried. They can be cooked in barley water to impart a sweet flavour and then used as a dessert nut. A refreshing beverage is made by mixing ground tubers with water, cinnamon, sugar, vanilla, and ice. Ground tubers can also be made into a plant milk with water, wheat, and sugar. An edible oil extracted from the tuber is considered superior and compares favourably with olive oil. The roasted tubers are also used as a coffee substitute. The base of the plant — likely the base of the leaf stems — can be used in salads. Tubers are calorie-dense and nutritious; soaking raw tubers softens them, roasting enhances flavour, and boiling produces a potato-like texture. Selected forms exist for agricultural production, particularly in Spain. Tubers are best harvested in autumn though they may persist underground into winter. Wash thoroughly and cook when possible due to potential wetland pathogens.
Known Hazards
Where to Find It
A tropical plant. It grows throughout the tropics and warm temperate zone. It is common in seasonally dry grasslands. It does not tolerate shade. High temperatures (27-30°C) and low nitrogen favours tuber production. It grows best in sandy soils with pH 5.5-6.5. It can tolerate salty soils. Day lengths of 8-12 hours favours tuber production. Day lengths of over 16 hours favour vegetative growth. It can grow in arid places. In Yunnan.
Africa, Albania, Argentina, Asia, Australia, Balkans, Benin, Bolivia, Botswana, Brazil, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Cambodia, Cameroon, Canada, Cape Verde, Central Africa, Central America, Chad, Chile, China, Congo, Côte d'Ivoire, Czech Republic, East Africa, Egypt, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Europe, France, Gambia, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Guatemala, Guinea, Guinée, Guinea-Bissau, Haiti, Hawaii, Hungary, India, Indochina, Indonesia, Italy, Ivory Coast, Laos, Libya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mediterranean, Mexico, Middle East, Mozambique, Myanmar, Namibia, Netherlands, Niger, Nigeria, North Africa, North America, Northeastern India, Oman, Pakistan, Panama, Paraguay, Portugal, Sahel, Sao Tome and Principe, Saudi Arabia, SE Asia, Sicily, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Spain, South Africa, South America, Southern Africa, South Sudan, Spain, St Helena, Sudan, Swaziland, Taiwan, Tanzania, Togo, Turkey, Türkiye, Uruguay, USA, Venezuela, West Africa, West Indies, Yemen, Zambia, Zimbabwe,
How to Identify
An upright grass like sedge. It continues to grow from year to year. It is usually 30-90 cm high. The leaves are long and narrow. They are shiny. The leaves are arranged on 3 rows around an angular stem. The leaves often have a pointed tip. The leaves are light green. The flowers are yellow spikes. They are 1-1.5 cm long. There are many creeping underground stems (rhizomes). These spread out then end in a swelling. This tuber is round and 5-20 mm long. It has a thin brown skin. They are crisp and nutty.
Nutrition Score: 54/100
| Part | Moisture | kJ | kcal | Protein | Vit A | Vit C | Iron | Zinc |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rhizome | 36.5 | 1262 | 302 | 3.5 | — | — | 8 | — |
| Bulb - nuts | 77.4 | 342 | 82 | 0.9 | — | 21 | 4.2 | 0.6 |
How to Grow
A top-tier edible sedge that combines resilience with nutritional density. Growing Conditions: Thrives in moist soils but tolerates moderate drought once established. Habitat & Range: Native to parts of Eurasia and Africa; now widespread across temperate and subtropical regions. Size & Landscape Performance: Dense stands may outcompete neighboring plants. Cultivation (Horticulture): Easy to grow but difficult to contain. Pests & Problems: Few natural predators; persistence is the main challenge. Identification & Habit: Triangular stems, narrow leaves, and golden seed heads distinguish it. Pollinators: Primarily wind-pollinated; seeds feed birds. Prefers a moist sandy loam. Plants are hardy to about -15°c. The chufa, or tiger nut, is often cultivated for its edible tuber in warm temperate and tropical zones, there is a cultivated variety, var. sativus, that produces larger tubers. We have had lots of problems with growing this cultivated form. Once the tubers come into growth then they normally grow vigorously, but the difficulty is getting them to come into growth. We harvest the tubers in the autumn and store them in moist sand, replanting them in the spring. However, they rarely come into new growth until mid to late summer which gives them too short a growing season to produce much of a crop. We need to find a satisfactory way of storing the tubers and exciting them back into growth. In warmer climates this plant is a serious weed of cultivation. It is much hardier than was once imagined and is becoming a weed in N. America where it is found as far north as Alaska. The tubers are often formed a metre or more away from the plant, especially if it is growing in a heavy clay soil. The tubers are extremely attractive to mice and require protection from them in the winter. Plant Name: Chufa. Family: Cyperaceae. Genus: Cyperus. Common Names: Yellow nutsedge, chufa, earth almond. USDA Hardiness Zones: Approximately 5–10. Height/Spread: 30–90 cm tall; spreads via rhizomes forming loose colonies. Introduced into: Austria, Belgium, Cambodia, China North-Central, Germany, Hawaii, Hungary, Japan, Jawa, Mauritius, New Guinea, New South Wales, New Zealand North, Poland, Réunion, St.Helena, Taiwan, Tristan da Cunha, Ukraine, Vietnam.
Propagation: Surface sow seed in spring and keep the compost moist; germination usually takes 2–6 weeks at 18°C. Prick seedlings into individual pots as soon as large enough to handle, grow through their first winter in a greenhouse, and plant out in late spring after the last expected frosts. Division in spring or autumn essentially involves harvesting tubers and replanting them; tubers lifted in autumn are best stored in a cool, frost-free place over winter and planted out in spring.
Medicinal Uses
Tiger nuts are regarded as a digestive tonic with a heating and drying effect on the digestive system, alleviating flatulence and promoting urine production and menstruation. The tubers are aphrodisiac, carminative, diuretic, emmenagogue, stimulant, and tonic. In Ayurvedic medicine they are used to treat flatulence, indigestion, colic, diarrhoea, dysentery, debility, and excessive thirst.
Other Uses
The tubers contain up to 30% of a non-drying oil used in cooking and soap-making. This oil does not solidify at 0°C and stores well without going rancid. The leaves can be used for weaving hats and matting. Boiled tubers are used in the UK as bait for carp. Tubers are eaten by mammals and the foliage shelters insects.
Wikipedia
Source ↗Cyperus esculentus (also called chufa, tiger nut, atadwe, yellow nutsedge, earth almond, and in Chishona, pfende) is a species of plant in the sedge family widespread across much of the world. It is found in most of the Eastern Hemisphere, including Southern Europe, Africa and Madagascar, as well as the Middle East and the Indian subcontinent. C. esculentus is cultivated for its edible tubers, called earth almonds or tiger nuts (due to the stripes on their tubers and their hard shell), as a snack food and for the preparation of horchata de chufa, a sweet, milk-like beverage. Cyperus esculentus can be found wild, as a weed, or as a crop. It is an invasive species outside its native range, and is readily transported accidentally to become invasive. In many countries, C. esculentus is considered a weed. It is often found in wet soils such as rice paddies and peanut farms as well as well-irrigated lawns and golf courses during warm weather.
Production
Yields of 800-900 kg per hectare of tubers are achieved on sandy soils. Yields of 8000-14000 kg per hectare are possible. Tiger nuts take 90-120 days to reach maturity.
Other Information
It is a commercially cultivated vegetable. It is an important food of several tribes in Africa. They are sold in markets in India. They are cultivated in Spain.
Notes
There are 550 Cyperus species.
Names & Synonyms
Abdulaziz, Abide, Aya, Banhamo, Bibi, Ceko, Chichoda, Chimbwe-chimbwe, Chufa, Chufa salvaje, Dila, Dim, Djardole, Djunca, Earth almonds, Enensa, Fio, Gaasu, Geeluintjie, Gocoso, Goon, Haya, Imumu, Inqoba, Junca, Kaothum, Karepoka, Karekika, Kaseru, Kaseruka, Keseru, Kwentii, Motha, Ndao, Ndawi, Ngowe, Noem phlong, Nut Sedge, Nut-grass, Ofio, Amu, Omu, Pfende, Rush nuts, Sekwa, Tiger nut, Tiririca, Umhlata, Vista, Yanaacemmora, Zulu nut
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