Manioc

Originally from tropical South America, manioc has been known in Peru for 4000 years. It was then exported to Africa and India during the 19th century and then to Asia in the 20th century. There is a wide variety of different types of manioc, and it has become an important food source. The leaves are eaten like a vegetable; the tubers provide flour or tapioca and are also the base for an alcoholic beverage. Manioc is used in traditional medicine throughout the Caribbean and tropical South America: a poultice made from its starch is mixed with oil to help relieve headaches, and another application, mixed with rum, helps calm rheumatism or skin rashes. As a plaster or paste, the starch helps treat cysts. Freshly crushed leaves are used to soothe burns, sunburn, and itchy skin. Called an "arrow remedy" by the Wayapi Indians, manioc leaves have a homeostatic property on arrow wounds. Manioc juice is toxic and used to treat scabies.