Manihot esculenta
Crantz
Family
: Euphorbiaceae (Euphorbs; Spurge Family)
COMMON NAMES
:
“cassava”, “yuca”, “bitter
cassava”, “tapioca”, “tapioca plant”, “manioc”, “Brazilian arrowroot”, “sweet
potato tree”. Spanish: “mandioca”, “yuca”;
Antillas “casava”. Thai: “dang noi”, “man sum
palung”, “pearks sakhoo”. Others: “tapioca”,
“manioca”, “huacamote”.
DESCRIPTION
:
Shrub, small tree or matted herb; perennial (although cultivated as annual),
very branching, 1.3 to 5 m tall. Leaves: Long petioled, usually deeply
3–7-palmately divided, lobes 7.5 to 15 cm long. Flowers:
Greenish-yellow, less than 1.2 cm long, borne in panicles. Fruit:
Capsule, globose, 1.2 cm diameter, with 6-winged angles, and 3 seeds. Roots
: Tuberous, fleshy, starchy, up to 90 cm long, pulp usually white, although
yellow in some cultivars; contain a volatile poison.
ORIGIN AND DISTRIBUTION
:
Native to tropical regions of
South America. Ranging throughout Tropical America. Also cultivated in Asia
and Africa.
PART USED
: Roots and leaves.
PROPERTIES
: Energetic food (starchy roots), antidiarrheal, antispasmodic,
anti-inflammatory, antiseptic, antitumor (cancerous affections), cyanogenetic,
relieves bumps; against abscess, against condyloma (excrescence on the genital
area), against excrescence of the eyes, against furuncles, against
conjunctivitis, against dysentery, against the flu, against prostatitis,
against hernia, against snakebite, against marasmus, against testicular
diseases, against ulcers and sores, demulcent, diuretic, laxative, poison.
CHEMICAL COMPOSITION
: cyanogenic glucosides (linamarin, lotaustralin), essential oils,
saponins, colorants, toxinas: (acetone, hydrocyanic acid, oxalic acid,
tryptophane).
RECOMMENDED DOSES
: Not determined.
CONTRAINDICATIONS
: Not determined.