Skip to main content

Currently Skimming:

Yacon
Pages 114-123

The Chapter Skim interface presents what we've algorithmically identified as the most significant single chunk of text within every page in the chapter.
Select key terms on the right to highlight them within pages of the chapter.


From page 115...
... 2 should prove agreeable to a wide range of palates, and it also has a future as an industrial crop. Most other roots and tubers store carbohydrate in the form of starch a polymer of glucose; yacon, on the other hand, stores carbohydrate in the form of inulin a polymer composed mainly of fructose.3 Yacon, therefore, may possibly be a fructose-sugar counterpart of sugar beets.
From page 116...
... It has been successfully introduced into southern Europe, but is not widely known. It has only recently been introduced to the United States, and amateur gardeners have found that it thrives in many parts of the country in California, Oregon, New Mexico, Florida, Alabama, and northern Virginia, for instance.
From page 117...
... USES Yacon is usually eaten raw. The sweet, crunchy tuber is often chopped and added to salads, imparting flavor and texture.
From page 118...
... Yacon yields are also higher than those of Jerusalem artichokes, and the fresh tubers contain almost 19 percent inulin.* The strong flavor of chicory roots limits their usefulness as a sweetener source (they are used as a coffee substitute)
From page 119...
... In addition, selected clones and disease-free materials can be derived from tissue culture propagation.6 Yacon is planted throughout the year, providing there is adequate soil moisture and warmth. Early growth is rapid, and it requires little attention apart from weeding.
From page 120...
... RESEARCH NEEDS As a first step, an international effort is needed to scout out the available types, evaluate them, and store them in gene banks.8 Yacon could be an attractive crop for producing alternative sweeteners, and research to determine this should be undertaken at a university or industrial research laboratory. There is a need to develop strains that produce tubers of uniform flavor.
From page 121...
... Capabilities to produce elite clones inexpensively need to be greatly expanded. Apparently, tubers are especially amenable to meristem tissue culture, as they are composed of stem material with numerous buds.
From page 122...
... Small, daisylike yellow or orange flowers are packed close together at the top of the plants and on additional stems arising from the lower leaf axils. Yacon tubers are irregularly spindle-shaped to round (somewhat resembling those of the garden dahlia)
From page 123...
... Rainfall. The annual foliage and perennial underground stems make yacon adaptable to seasonal cycles of drought or cold.


This material may be derived from roughly machine-read images, and so is provided only to facilitate research.
More information on Chapter Skim is available.