Cassava (Manihot esculenta)

Manihot esculenta, commonly called cassava, is a woody shrub of the spurge family Euphorbiaceae native to Brazil, Paraguay and parts of the Andes, domesticated in west-central Brazil roughly ten thousand years ago. Although technically a perennial, it is usually harvested annually for its long, tapered, starchy storage roots, which have an easily detached rough brown rind and carry little protein alongside their carbohydrate content. It is the third largest source of carbohydrates in tropical diets after rice and maize, with more than five hundred million people depending on it, and Nigeria leads world production at sixty point eight million tonnes a year while Thailand dominates the export of cassava starch. Raw cassava roots contain cyanogenic compounds that make them dangerous if eaten unprepared, so soaking, cooking or fermentation is required before the root can be safely consumed.