Root vegetable

Carrot roots in various shades from light to dark

Root vegetables are plant roots used as vegetables. While botany distinguishes true roots such as tuberous roots and taproots from non-roots such as tubers, rhizomes, corms, and bulbs (though some contain both taproot and hypocotyl tissue, making it difficult to tell some types apart), in ordinary, agricultural, and culinary use, "root vegetable" can apply to all these types.^[1]

Root vegetables are generally storage organs, enlarged to store energy in the form of carbohydrates.^{[citation needed]} They differ in the concentration and the balance between sugars, starches, and other types of carbohydrate. Of particular economic importance are those with a high carbohydrate concentration in the form of starch. Starchy root vegetables are important staple foods, particularly in tropical regions, overshadowing cereals throughout much of West Africa, Central Africa,^{[citation needed]} and Oceania, where they are used directly or mashed to make fufu or poi.

The following list classifies root vegetables according to anatomy.

True root

Storage roots are very common all over the world. There are more than 50 types of storage roots (categorised in bulb, rhizome, tubers)

Taproot (some types may incorporate substantial hypocotyl tissue)
- Arracacia xanthorrhiza (arracacha)
- Abelmoschus moschatus (bush carrot)
- Beta vulgaris (beet and mangelwurzel)
- Brassica spp. (rutabaga and turnip)
- Bunium persicum (black cumin)
- Burdock (Arctium, family Asteraceae)
- Carrot (Daucus carota subsp. sativus)
- Celeriac - (Apium graveolens rapaceum)
- Daikon - the large East Asian white radish (Raphanus sativus var. longipinnatus)
- Dandelion - (Taraxacum) spp.
- Lepidium meyenii (maca)
- Microseris scapigera (yam daisy)
- Pachyrhizus spp. (jicama and ahipa)
- Parsnip (Pastinaca sativa)
- Petroselinum spp. (parsley root)
- Radish - (Raphanus sativus)
- Scorzonera hispanica (black salsify)
- Sium sisarum (skirret)
- Tragopogon spp. (salsify)
- Vigna lanceolata (bush potato)
Tuberous root
- Amorphophallus galbra (Yellow lily yam)
- Conopodium majus (pignut or earthnut)
- Dioscorea polystachya (nagaimo, Chinese yam, Korean yam, mountain yam)
- Hornstedtia scottiana (Native ginger)
- Ipomoea batatas (sweet potato)
- Ipomoea costata (desert yam)
- Manihot esculenta (cassava or yuca or manioc)
- Mirabilis extensa (mauka or chago)
- Psoralea esculenta (breadroot, tipsin, or prairie turnip)
- Smallanthus sonchifolius (yacón)

Root-like stem

Zamia pumila, Florida arrowroot

Modified plant stem

Corm
- Amorphophallus konjac (konjac)
- Colocasia esculenta (taro)
- Eleocharis dulcis (Chinese water chestnut)
- Ensete spp. (enset)
- Nelumbo nucifera
- Nymphaea spp. (waterlily)
- Pteridium esculentum
- Sagittaria spp. (arrowhead or wapatoo)
- Typha spp.
- Xanthosoma spp. (malanga, cocoyam, tannia, yautia and other names)
- Colocasia antiquorum (eddoe or Japanese potato)
Rhizome
- Curcuma longa (turmeric)
- Panax ginseng (ginseng)
- Arthropodium spp. (rengarenga, vanilla lily, and others)
- Canna spp. (canna)
- Cordyline fruticosa (ti)
- Maranta arundinacea (arrowroot)
- Nelumbo nucifera (lotus root)
- Typha spp. (cattail or bulrush)
- Zingiber officinale (ginger, galangal)
Tuber
- Apios americana (hog potato or groundnut)
- Cyperus esculentus (tigernut or chufa)
- Dioscorea spp. (yams, ube)
- Dioscorea polystachya (Chinese yam, white name or white ñame)
- Helianthus tuberosus (Jerusalem artichoke or sunchoke)
- Hemerocallis spp. (daylily)
- Lathyrus tuberosus (earthnut pea)
- Oxalis tuberosa (oca or New Zealand yam)
- Plectranthus edulis and P. esculentus (kembili, dazo, and others)
- Solanum tuberosum (potato)
- Stachys affinis (Chinese artichoke or crosne)
- Tropaeolum tuberosum (mashua or añu)
- Ullucus tuberosus (ulluco)

Bulb

- Allium spp. (garlic, onion, shallot, et cetera)
- Camassia quamash (quamash)
- Cyperus bulbosus (bush onion)
- Caladenia
- Cryptostylis
- Cymbidium canaliculatum
- Diuris
- Dipodium
- Erythronium spp. (katakuri)
- Foeniculum vulgare (fennel)
- Geodorum
- Glossodia
- Lilium spp. (lilies)
- Lypernathus
- Microtis
- Prasophyllum
- Pterostylis
- Tacca leontopetaloides
- Thelymitra

Notes

^ López Camelo, Andrés F. (2004). Manual for the Preparation and Sale of Fruits and Vegetables. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. p. 6. ISBN 92-5-104991-2. Retrieved 2009-07-31. However, in the case of potatoes (Figure 10), sweet potatoes, and other root vegetables, readiness for harvest is based on the percentage of tubers of a specific size. Potatoes are technically tubers, not roots, and sweet potatoes are tuberous roots.

External links

Vegetables From Underground from Wayne's Word at Palomar College

[1] López Camelo, Andrés F. (2004). Manual for the Preparation and Sale of Fruits and Vegetables. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. p. 6. ISBN 92-5-104991-2. Retrieved 2009-07-31. However, in the case of potatoes (Figure 10), sweet potatoes, and other root vegetables, readiness for harvest is based on the percentage of tubers of a specific size. Potatoes are technically tubers, not roots, and sweet potatoes are tuberous roots.

[1]