Yam (vegetable)
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? Dioscorea (Yam) |
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Yam is the common name for members of the genus Dioscorea (family Dioscoreaceae). There are more than 150 different varieties of yam. Some species are cultivated for the consumption of their starchy tubers in Africa, Asia, Latin America and Oceania.
The word yam comes from Portuguese inhame or Spanish ñame, which both ultimately derive from the Wolof word nyami, meaning "to eat". They are used in a similar fashion to potatoes, and are sometimes called a potato substitute, though in areas where yams are grown, potatoes are the newer vegetable.
Yam tubers can grow up to seven feet (approx. two meters) in length and weigh up to 150 pounds (68 kg). The yam has a rough skin which is difficult to peel, but which softens after heating. Yam skins vary in colour from dark brown to light pink. The majority of the yam is composed of a much softer substance known as the "meat". This substance ranges in colour from white to bright orange in ripe yams.
Yams are a primary agricultural commodity in West Africa and New Guinea. They were first cultivated in Africa and Asia about 8000 B.C., probably because they were able to flourish in environments where growing leafy vegetables and keeping livestock was difficult. To this day, the yam tuber remains crucial to survival in the region; it can be stored for four to six months without refrigeration, which makes it a valuable resource for the yearly period of food scarcity at the beginning of the wet season.
Yams are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species including Palpifer sordida.
Preparation
Yams must be cooked (in African species) to be safely eaten because various natural substances in raw yams can cause illness if consumed. Preparing some species of yam is a time-consuming process, involving days of pounding, leaching, and boiling to remove the toxins. Yams may be served fried, boiled or pounded into a paste. In the Philippines, the purple ube variety of yam (Dioscorea alata, also known in India as ratalu or violet yam) is eaten as a sweetened dessert called halaya, and is also an ingredient in another Filipino dessert, halo halo.
An exception to the cooking rule is the Japanese mountain yam ( Dioscorea opposita), known as nagaimo or yamaimo depending on the root shape. It is eaten raw and grated, after only a relatively minimal preparation: the whole tubers are briefly soaked in a vinegar-water solution, to neutralize irritant oxalate crystals found in their skin. The raw vegetable is starchy and bland, mucilaginous when grated, and may be eaten plain as a side dish, or added to noodles.
Yams and sweet potatoes
In the United States, the sweeter varieties of the sweet potato ( Ipomoea batatas) are often called "yams". Sweet potato "yams" are widely available in U.S. food stores. True yams are only found in specialty markets such as those that serve Asian or Caribbean communities.
In contrast, people in New Zealand use the word "yam" to refer to the oca (Oxalis tuberosa), and the word "kumara" to refer to the sweet potato.
External links and resources
- See also the United States Department of Agriculture's Plant Profile for a complete list of 28 yam species.
- Purdue University's Famine Foods Database includes a page about how various Dioscoreacea species are used
- The Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research information page on yams
- Food Facts & And Trivia: Yams
- African Pygmies - Wild yams gathering
- Vegetable Food Facts, History and Timelines
- African Foods
- A Taste of Ghana
- The African Table by Jessica Harris. Simon & Schuster: 1996. ISBN 068481837.