cassava

/kəˈsɑvə/

/kæˈsʌvə/

Other forms: cassavas

Cassava is a starchy tuber that comes from a South American shrub of the same name. In tropical countries, cassava is a common staple food.

The most cassava is grown and eaten in Nigeria, and it's popular in many places because it grows even when there's not much rain or the soil is poor. Experts estimate that 800 million people depend on cassava. It has to be properly prepared to be safely eaten, either cooked like potatoes or ground into a coarse meal or fine flour. Tapioca, a starch found in pudding and bubble tea, is also made from cassava.

Definitions of cassava

1. noun

   any of several plants of the genus Manihot having fleshy roots yielding a nutritious starch
   synonyms: casava

   types:

   Manihot esculenta, Manihot utilissima, bitter cassava, gari, mandioc, mandioca, manioc, tapioca plant

   cassava with long tuberous edible roots and soft brittle stems; used especially to make cassiri (an intoxicating drink) and tapioca

   Manihot dulcis, sweet cassava

   South American plant with roots used as a vegetable and herbage used for stock feed

   type of:

   bush, shrub

   a low woody perennial plant usually having several major stems
2. noun

   cassava root eaten as a staple food after drying and leaching; source of tapioca
   synonyms: manioc

   type of:

   root

   (botany) the usually underground organ that lacks buds or leaves or nodes; absorbs water and mineral salts; usually it anchors the plant to the ground
3. noun

   a starch made by leaching and drying the root of the cassava plant; the source of tapioca; a staple food in the tropics
   synonyms: cassava starch, manioc, manioca

   type of:

   amylum, starch

   a complex carbohydrate found chiefly in seeds, fruits, tubers, roots and stem pith of plants, notably in corn, potatoes, wheat, and rice; an important foodstuff and used otherwise especially in adhesives and as fillers and stiffeners for paper and textiles