root crop

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Carrot roots

Root vegetables are plant roots used as vegetables. Here "root" means any underground part of a plant.^[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.

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.^[2]

The following list classifies root vegetables according to anatomy.

True root

Cassava tuberous roots

• 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 - East Asian radish (Raphanus sativus var. longipinnatus)
  • Lepidium meyenii (maca)
  • Microseris scapigera (yam daisy)
  • Pachyrhizus spp. (jicama and ahipa)
  • Parsnip (Pastinaca sativa)
  • Petroselinum spp. (parsley root)
  • Radish -
  • Scorzonera hispanica (black salsify)
  • Sium sisarum (skirret)
  • Tragopogon spp. (salsify)
  • Vigna lanceolata (bush potato)
• Tuberous root
  • Amorphophallus glabra (Yellow lily yam)
  • Conopodium majus (pignut or earthnut)
  • 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)

Modified plant stem

Taro corms

Ginger rhizomes

Yam tubers

• 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, and other names)
• 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)
  • 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

Shallot bulbs

• • 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

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Root vegetables

• Root and tuber crops at the University of Georgia
• Vegetables From Underground from Wayne's Word at Palomar College