#Biofortification of staple crops can reliably alleviate #vitaminA deficiency. Carotene-rich #cassava in children's #diets improved their #retinol levels, but #plantbreeding programs in #Africa require better infrastructure & human capacity to optimize efforts: https://doi.org/10.1155/aia/9937876 #nutrition

" While #cassava has been ensconced in South and Central America for millennia, its story is far from over. In the age of climate change and mounting efforts toward sustainability, cassava is emerging as a possible world crop. "

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/how-ancient-amazonians-transformed-a-toxic-crop-into-a-diet-staple/ar-BB1lQM9C

#Cassava: The perilous past and promising future of a toxic but nourishing crop https://theconversation.com/cassava-the-perilous-past-and-promising-future-of-a-toxic-but-nourishing-crop-223503

Cassava: The perilous past and promising future of a toxic but nourishing crop

https://theconversation.com/cassava-the-perilous-past-and-promising-future-of-a-toxic-but-nourishing-crop-223503

Cassava: The perilous past and promising future of a toxic but nourishing crop. An anthropology professor shares what he's learned from "studying cassava gardens on the Amazon River and its myriad tributaries in Peru."

@TheConversationUS reports: "Cassava’s many assets would seem to make it the ideal crop. But there’s a problem: Cassava is highly poisonous."

https://flip.it/CCQXbW

Each node on a #cassava stem is a scar where an old leaf dropped off. Like rings on a tree, wider distance between nodes indicates good growing conditions, while shorter ones denote times of stress. Wider spacing is one of the quality characteristics farmers look for when buying stems to replant.

A new report on the saga of #Cassava sciences development of #simufilam for #Alzheimers. Doctored images and missing data raise questions.
why this investigation has been so slow?
https://www.science.org/content/article/co-developer-cassava-s-potential-alzheimer-s-drug-cited-egregious-misconduct
#fraud #misconduct

Bought #cassava leaves from the market today. Asked the stall holder how to use them in a #recipe. He told me they eat them raw. Munched on a few together.

Got home to check on recipes, & apparently they have cyanide & the only way to prepare them is by boiling (disgarding the water) or drying in the sun, which detoxifies them!

Googling signs of cyanide poisoning. Think I'm fine, but who knew! Clearly, not the stall holder. :-) Also cyanide in small amounts, I just read can be good for you.

The #traditional know-how associated with the making of #cassava bread is the driving force behind the country’s decision to join forces with four other #LatinAmerica & #Caribbean nations - #Cuba , #DominicanRepublic , #Honduras & #Venezuela - to offer the #TraditionalCuisine to #UNESCO for #recognition on its #RepresentativeList of the #Intangible #CulturalHeritage of #Humanity .

https://www.aol.com/once-viewed-food-poor-haiti-124354795.html

More moments from my foodforest #Solarpunk #Permaculture #Foodsecurity #Climatechange #SaveSoil #Moringaflowers #Perilla #Cassava #Bananas #Passionfruit