Guest guest Posted March 2, 2000 Report Share Posted March 2, 2000 Interesting Fruits and Veggies are good for our bodies and the economy as well... see http://www.lifesci.ucla.edu/botgard/html/botanytextbooks/economicbotany/index.ht\ ml yum yum Peace, Bliss -- _____________ Free email services provided by http://www.goodkarmamail.com powered by OutBlaze Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 11, 2000 Report Share Posted March 11, 2000 Thanks for the link. Look what I found out about my favourite food - taro (the potato of the humid tropics)... - About 10% of the world's population uses taro or taro-like plants (Araceae) as a staple in the diet, and for 100 million people this is an important daily food. - Taro has leaves that are 1 to 2 meters long with a long, erect petiole and an arrow-shaped blade. Plants like this are sometimes called " elephant ear. " - It was probably first native to the lowland wetlands of Malaysia (taloes). Estimates are that taro was in cultivation in wet tropical India before 5000 B.C., presumably coming from Malaysia, and from India further transported westward to ancient Egypt, where it was described by Greek and Roman historians as an important crop. - When Captain Cook discovered the Hawaiian Islands in 1778, the native population (est. 300,000) lived chiefly on dasheen (Chinese term for taro) and sweet potatoes (Ipomoea batatas), supplemented with things from the sea. - In the Hawaiian Islands, taro was said to have been formed by the union of daughter earth and father sky, before man was born, so taro was honored as superior to man and treasured as the most important food crop. - Taro is similar to the Irish potato (Solanum tuberosum) in many properties, and is sometimes called the " potato " of the humid tropics. - In comparison with potato, taro corm has a higher proportion of protein (1.5-3.0%), calcium, and phosphorus; it has a trace of fat, and is rich in vitamins A and C. Moreover, taro is 98.8% digestible, because it has very small starch grains fairly rich in amylose (20-25%), which breaks down to sugar with human saliva. This type of carbohydrate is excellent for people with digestive problems, so that taro flour is used in infant formulae and canned baby foods and is good for people with allergies, such as lactose intolerance. - Recent research indicates that plastics can be made to be biodegradable by adding taro starch grains. By the way, OK Health in Toronto makes the most unbelievable taro-rolls... > <A HREF= " http://www.lifesci.ucla.edu/botgard/html/botanytextbooks/economicbotany/in\ dex.html " TARGET= " _new " ><FONT COLOR= " BLUE " >http://www.lifesci.ucla.edu/botgard/html/botanytextbooks/economicbo\ tany/index.html</FONT></A> > > yum yum > Peace, > Bliss -- _____________ Free email services provided by http://www.goodkarmamail.com powered by OutBlaze Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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