Weight Loss Food
Tapioca Shoots (leaves) – A Good Source of fibre for Weight Loss?
Tapioca is cultivated in many countries around the world. It is rather easy to cultivate this amazing plant which has many uses. The tree can grow from old stems and one just need to poke these on the ground.
For some society, tapioca is a stable food and can be cooked in many different ways. Dry powdered tapioca tubers are often used as thickening agent. The starch
from the root extract of the plant is very suitable for making many types of cakes. It is also gluten free. Therefore, by products from this plant are often used in Vegan or Vegetarian food preparation. For example the leaves can be used to cook
Vegetarian Tapioca Shoots Recipe
However, tapioca roots and leaves contain cynogenic glycosides which can cause acute cyanide intoxication if not prepared properly. Tapioca should not
be consumed raw. The toxin found in red branched variety is less harmful than the green branched ones. The toxin levels are high during drought. Tapioca can be deep fried, steamed, made into soups, stew, dumplings and cooked with meat. Crispy chips made from the tapioca roots are tasty. Apart from that tapioca can also be made into alcoholic beverages like Sakura or nijimanche(sweet beer).
China is exploring the potential of cassava as biofuel. The largest cassava ethanol fuel plant started operation in Beihai, China in 2007.
In Indonesia, dishes made from tapioca young shoots are quite popular. Since the leaves contain toxin, they should be boiled in water first before consumption. The leaves contain very little protein but have high roughage composition.
The toxin effect of eating the leaves has not been throughly investigated by scientist. The leaves might hold the key prevent world food shortage crisis or might be effective for weight loss.