Cassava is a woody shrub native to South America.  It is widely cultivated as a crop in tropical and subtropical regions for its starchy tuberous root, and is the third largest source of food carbohydrates in the tropics.  

The cassava root is long and tapered, with a firm flesh covered in a rough and brown skin.  Cassava roots are very rich in starch, and contain significant amounts of calcium (50mg/100g), phosphorus (40mg/100g) and vitamin C (25mg/100g).  They are however poor in protein and other nutrients.

Cassava is used in a variety of food products, the same way potatoes are.  They can be used as vegetables in dishes, grated o make pancakes, dried and ground into tapioca flour, or sliced and made into snack chips.  Woolworths has a delicious low fat cassava chip snack slimmer's choice flavoured crispy cassava snack.

Tapioca is a flavourless starchy ingredient which is commonly used in cooking.  It is is used worldwide as a thickening agent, mainly in foods.  It is gluten-free and almost completely protein-free.

Africans adopted cassava for several reasons particularly because it is resistant to drought.  In Southern Africa the crop is cultivated in Namibia, the Northern Province, Mpumalanga, Northern Kwa-Zulu natal, Mozambique, Angola, Swaziland, Malawi, Botswana and Zimbabwe.  In South Africa the crop is generally cultivated by the subsistence farmers in the rural areas.  Commercial farming is restricted to the Pietersburg area because of the presence of a starch-manufacturing factory.

In South Africa cassava is presently utilized for the production of starch (commercial and food grade starch).  In the rural areas the roots and young leaves are utilized as vegetables.  The cassava produced in the rural areas is sometimes sold, but mostly the household uses it as food

Article provided by: Lean Aubergine Dietetic Service:
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