Tapioca Introduction

Cassava has many names across many continents. The English word is cassava, but in South American in the area around Brazil it is called madioca. In Africa where French is spoken it is called manioc. In Spanish-speaking countries it is called yuca. Here in Asia we call it tapioca.

The origins of cassava are many, but the principle origin is in the tropical areas of the American continents, especially in South America. The countries such as Guatemala, Mexico, Peru, and Honduras planted cassava three to five thousand years before the plant was distributed across the Americas and elsewhere. In the 15th century, slave traders and the Portuguese brought cassava to the African continent.

Cassava reached Asia around the 17th century, when the Spanish brought it from Mexico for planting in Philippines. In the 18th century, the Dutch brought cassava into Indonesia.

Johannes Elias Teysmann a German nation is the curator of the Kebon Raya Bogor which brings hundreds of types of plants to be planted in Bogor (1830-1880). He who first discovered cassava in Indonesia as an alternative food waiting period between rice harvests. Cassava grown commercially in Indonesia during Dutch colonial rule since the year 1810, after being introduced by the Portuguese who come to the archipelago in the 16th century. Shifting the time of post-independence Indonesia has not changed since dinllai stigma on cassava as a food ingredient so that ruled out the common people. Center for Technology Assessment and Application of Starch Institute of Technology Lampung is a government institution that pioneered the use of cassava since 1980 for alternative energy materials called bioethanol (gasohol BE 10). Overseas importer of crude oil and a number of rich countries are now busy targeting tropical countries as a potential "oil fields dried cassava". Step import cassava State committed China to reduce petroleum consumption is increasingly rare and cassava are offered tantalizing mahal.Harga of U.S. $ 150/ton.

If this can be realized then the domestic industry to grow and revenue petanipun DAPT meningkat.Di Indonesia cassava is still a garden crop intercropping or interrupted. While the tuber is only a snack in the form of chips, ketimus, opaque, fried or boiled cassava cassava. Pastry Chiquita intends to make cassava into food snacks that are more "prestigious".

Scientific classification

• Kingdom Plantae
• Division Magnoliophyt
• Class Magnoliopsida
• Order Malpigghiales
• Family Euphorbiaceae
• Subfamily Crotonoideae
• Nation Manihoteae
• The genus Manihot
• Species of Manihot esculenta

Plants belonging to the category of tubers ganyong, Gembili, Cassava, sweet potatoes, Taro, Sweet potato, sweet coconut, Uwi.

According to a medicinal plant expert, Prof. Hembing Wijayakusuma, pharmacological effects of cassava is as an antioxidant, anticancer, antitumor, and increase appetite. Commonly used parts of this plant is the leaves and tubers. Cassava tubers contain calories, protein, fat, carbohydrate, calcium, phosphorus, iron, vitamin B and C, and starch.