Elsevier Varieties and Landraces: Cultural Practices and Traditional Uses

Varieties and Landraces: Cultural Practices and Traditional Uses, Volume Two in the Underground Starchy Crops of South American Origin series, brings information on the applied level of producing and using starch from a range of plants grown in tropical and subtropical areas of South American origin. The book presents the economic and social importance of these crops that store starch in underground organs. The title also explores bioactive compounds as a way for the valorization of these crops, along with commercial and traditional cultivation in South America (Colombia/Venezuela/Andean highlands, Mexico, Brazilian savannah and Pantanal, besides the Amazon forest), bringing botanical information, too. Edited by a team of experts with a solid background in starch extraction research, this book is ideal for anyone involved in research and development, as well as anyone in cultivation, quality control and legislation in the field of starch. Presents a summary view of how agricultural production and cultivation of starchy crops occur in their countries of origin, highlighting their strengths and challenges Covers the possibilities for local development by valuing products obtained from natural crops in more distant and scarcer markets of variability Evaluates landraces that are found in small-scale agriculture where traditions are maintained, including tubers, rhizomes and roots as carbohydrate sources used as stable foods in South American countries