Dioscorea trifida
L. f.
Sweet yam, Cush-cush yam
(c) User:Mvh57, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA)
(c) Hervé GALLIFFET, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)
(c) Hervé GALLIFFET, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)
What to Eat
Edible parts: Tubers, Vegetable, Root
The roots are boiled or baked and some forms have an excellent flavour — the cooked flesh is smooth, moist, attractively coloured, and unusually rich-tasting. Roots are approximately 15–20cm long and 6–8cm in diameter. The tuber contains about 38% waxy starch that lacks amylose, giving it potential as a binder and thickener in food processing.
Where to Find It
It is a tropical plant. It is indigenous to Central America. It suits a cooler climate than other yams. It grows in areas with temperatures between 25-30°C. The rainfall is 1,500-2,000 mm per year. It cannot tolerate frost.
Africa, Amazon, Antilles, Benin, Brazil, Burundi, Caribbean*, Central Africa, Central America, Colombia, Congo, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, East Africa, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guadeloupe, Guianas, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Martinique, New Caledonia, Nicaragua, North America, Pacific, Panama, Peru, Puerto Rico, South America, Sri Lanka, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and Grenadines, Suriname, Tonga, Trinidad, USA, Vanuatu, Venezuela, West Africa, West Indies,
How to Identify
A yam vine. The stem is square in cross section and does not have spines. The leaves are 25 cm long. They are opposite. The leaf is divided like fingers on a hand into 3 or more segments. The male flower is on a long stalk and the female flower stalk is short. It easily produces seed. The underground tuber is irregular in shape. It can be 70 cm long. Varieties can range in colour from white to purple and black.
Nutrition Score: 32/100
| Part | Moisture | kJ | kcal | Protein | Vit A | Vit C | Iron | Zinc |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tuber | 80.7 | 284 | 68 | 2.5 | — | — | 0.5 | 0.4 |
How to Grow
A plant of the moist tropics and subtropics. It grows best in areas where annual daytime temperatures are within the range 18 - 26°c, but can tolerate 10 - 36°c. It can be killed by temperatures of 7°c or lower. It prefers a mean annual rainfall in the range 1,200 - 2,600mm, but tolerates 1,000 - 4,000mm. This species grows better at lower temperatures than most tropical yams. Prefers a sunny position, tolerating some shade. For best yields, most yams require a deep, well-drained, sandy loam that is not liable to water-logging. This species will succeed in a wide range of soils so long as there is plenty of organic matter and they are well drained. Prefers a pH in the range 6 - 6.7, tolerating 5.3 - 8. Daylengths of more than 12 hours are preferred during the early growing season since this encourages vegetative growth; daylengths of less than 12 hours towards the end of the growing season will encourage tuber formation and development. Crops can be obtained in 9 - 11 months from planting, yields of 15 - 20 tonnes per hectare have been achieved. Plants produce groups of 5 - 50 tubers from enlarged stolons or runners. This is perhaps the only cultivated yam species that has retained its full reproductive potential through seed formation. There are some named varieties. A dioecious species, both male and female plants need to be grown if seed is required.
Propagation: Seed is sown in containers and planted out at the beginning of the growing season. Tuber cuttings are also used: small tubers are cut into 2–4 sections and larger ones into 6–8 sections, each with 2–3 dormant buds. Cut tubers are often left in the sun for several hours to encourage wound healing and reduce the risk of fungal infection.
Medicinal Uses
None known.
Other Uses
Vines of other Dioscorea species are grown as ornamentals. Grown in food forest systems.
Wikipedia
Source ↗Dioscorea trifida is a species of flowering plant in the family Dioscoreaceae. It is a species of yam (genus Dioscorea). It is native to the Caribbean and Central and South America. Its many common names include Indian yam, cush-cush, and yampee. It is called mapuey in Venezuela, inhame in Brazil, tabena and ñame in Colombia, sacha papa in Peru, and ñampi in Costa Rica.
Production
Plants take 9-10 months to mature. Tubers will store in cool, dry, well-ventilated places for a while. Yields of 15-20 tonnes per hectare have been achieved.
Other Information
It is a commercially cultivated vegetable. Tubers are sold in local markets.
Notes
There are about 650 species of Dioscorea.
Names & Synonyms
Aja e, Cara amazonico, Cara branco, Cara doce, Chambo, Chilma, Couche couche, Drun nuen, Indian yam, Indienne, Inhame roxo, Japecanga, Kenke, Maona, Mapuey, Name blanco, Name, Nampi, Papa chambo, Sachapapa, Tsanbu, Yampi yam
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