Starch or amylum is a polymeric carbohydrate consisting of numerous glucose units joined by glycosidic bonds. This polysaccharide is produced by most green plants for energy storage. It is the most common carbohydrate in human diets and is contained in large amounts in staple foods like potatoes, maize (corn), rice, wheat and cassava (manioc).
Sago is a starch extracted from the spongy centre, or pith, of various tropical palm stems, especially those of Metroxylon sagu. It is a major staple food for the lowland peoples of New Guinea and the Moluccas, where it is called saksak, rabia and sagu. The largest supply of sago comes from Southeast Asia, particularly Indonesia and Malaysia. Large quantities of sago are sent to Europe and North America for cooking purposes. It is traditionally cooked and eaten in various forms, such as rolled into balls, mixed with boiling water to form a glue-like paste (papeda), or as a pancake. Sago is often produced commercially in the form of "pearls". Sago pearls can be boiled with water or milk and sugar to make a sweet sago pudding. Sago pearls are similar in appearance to the pearled starches of other origin, e.g. cassava starch (tapioca) and potato starch, and they may be used interchangeably in some dishes.
Maranta arundinacea, also known as arrowroot, maranta, West Indian arrowroot, obedience plant, Bermuda arrowroot, araru, araruta, ararao or hulankeeriya, is a large, perennial herb found in rainforest habitats. Arrowroot flour is now produced commercially mostly in St. Vincent and the Grenadines. Arrowroot was one of the earliest plants to be domesticated for food in northern South America, with evidence of exploitation or cultivation of the plant dating back to 8200 BC.
Cycads are seed plants with a very long fossil history that were formerly more abundant and more diverse than they are today. They typically have a stout and woody (ligneous) trunk with a crown of large, hard and stiff, evergreen leaves. They usually have pinnate leaves. The species are dioecious, therefore the individual plants of a species are either male or female. Cycads vary in size from having trunks only a few centimeters to several meters tall. They typically grow very slowly and live very long, with some specimens known to be as much as 1,000 years old. Because of their superficial resemblance, they are sometimes mistaken for palms or ferns, but they are not closely related to either group.
Zamia furfuracea is a cycad native to southeastern Veracruz state in eastern Mexico. Although not a palm tree (Arecaceae), its growth habit is superficially similar to a palm; therefore it is commonly known as cardboard palm or cardboard cycad. Other names include cardboard plant, cardboard sago, Jamaican sago, and Mexican cycad. The plant's binomial name comes from the Latin zamia, for "pine nut", and furfuracea, meaning "mealy" or "scurfy".
Cycas revoluta, is a species of gymnosperm in the family Cycadaceae, native to southern Japan including the Ryukyu Islands. It is one of several species used for the production of sago, as well as an ornamental plant.
Zamia pumila, or coontie palm, is a small, tough, woody cycad of the West Indies. Zamia pumila was the first species described for the genus and hence is the type species for the genus Zamia and the family Zamiaceae.
Zamia is a genus of cycad of the family Zamiaceae, native to Mexico, the West Indies, and Central and South America as far south as Bolivia. The range of one species (Z. integrifolia, extends into the contiguous United States, i.e. Georgia and Florida.
Encephalartos is a genus of cycad native to Africa. Several species of Encephalartos are commonly referred to as bread trees, bread palms or kaffir bread, since a bread-like starchy food can be prepared from the centre of the stem. The genus name is derived from the Greek words en (within), kephalē (head), and artos (bread), referring to the use of the pith to make food. They are, in evolutionary terms, some of the most primitive living gymnosperms.
Canna indica, commonly known as Indian shot, African arrowroot, edible canna, purple arrowroot, Sierra Leone arrowroot, is a plant species in the family Cannaceae. It is native to much of South America, Central America, the West Indies, and Mexico. It is also naturalized in the southeastern United States, and much of Europe, sub-Saharan Africa, Southeast Asia, and Oceania. Canna indica has been a minor food crop cultivated by indigenous peoples of the Americas for thousands of years.
The Tequesta were a Native American tribe. At the time of first European contact they occupied an area along the southeastern Atlantic coast of Florida. They had infrequent contact with Europeans and had largely migrated by the middle of the 18th century.
Sago is a starch extracted from the stems of metroxylon sagu palms.
Tacca leontopetaloides is a species of flowering plant in the yam family Dioscoreaceae. It is native to Island Southeast Asia but have been introduced as canoe plants throughout the Indo-Pacific tropics by Austronesian peoples during prehistoric times. They have become naturalized to tropical Africa, South Asia, northern Australia, and Oceania. Common names include Polynesian arrowroot, Fiji arrowroot, East Indies arrowroot, and pia.
Macrozamia riedlei, commonly known as a zamia or zamia palm, is a species of cycad in the plant family Zamiaceae. It is endemic to southwest Australia and often occurs in jarrah forests. It may only attain a height of half a metre or form an above trunk up to two metres with long arching fronds of a similar length. The giant cones amidst the crown of palm-like fronds contain edible seeds surrounded by red sarcotesta. The seeds are consumed by birds and animals, and can be a favoured part of the human diet when prepared correctly. M. riedlei benefits from a close association with bacteria that fix nitrogen, which also produce substances found throughout the plant that are toxic to some animals when consumed. The species is cultivated for ornamental use in urban and domestic environments.
Zamia pygmaea is a species of plant in the family Zamiaceae found only in Cuba. It is the smallest living cycad. It is listed as critically endangered on the IUCN Red List based on its limited distribution, severely fragmented habitat, and population of less than 250 mature individuals.
Cycasin is a carcinogenic and neurotoxic glucoside found in cycads such as Cycas revoluta and Zamia pumila. Symptoms of poisoning include vomiting, diarrhea, weakness, seizures, and hepatoxicity. In metabolic conditions, cycasin is hydrolyzed into glucose and methylazoxymethanol (MAM), the latter of which dissociates into formaldehyde and diazomethane.
Arrowroot is a starch obtained from the rhizomes (rootstock) of several tropical plants, traditionally Maranta arundinacea, but also Florida arrowroot from Zamia integrifolia, and tapioca from cassava, which is often labelled as arrowroot. Polynesian arrowroot or pia, and Japanese arrowroot, also called kudzu, are used in similar ways.
Arrowroot is to an edible starch obtained from several tropical plants.
Zamia integrifolia is a small, tough, woody cycad native to the southeast United States, the Bahamas, Cuba, the Cayman Islands, Hispaniola, and Puerto Rico. The species is possibly extinct in Puerto Rico and Haiti.
