Konjac
Inflorescence of devil's tongue ( Amorphophallus konjac ). It flowers in leafless condition.
The Devil's tongue ( Amorphophallus konjac, syn: A. rivieri ) is a plant of the family Araceae ( Araceae ). In Austria, the devil's tongue is also called tears tree. The tuber is called the konjac root.
Occurrence
The Devil's Tongue is originally from Southeast Asia - according to a source from Vietnam - but today is in any case spread to Indonesia throughout Southeast Asia, Japan and China. The Devil's Tongue prefers moist and semi-shaded locations in the local tropics and subtropics.
Description
The Devil's Tongue is a perennial herbaceous plant. This Geophyt grows from a tuber that can reach up to 25 cm in diameter. The konjac root in late spring forms a single fallen leaf, reminiscent of a tree in the form of an umbrella, and is as high as it is wide. The information on the maximum height of this sheet vary from 1.3 to 2.5 m. The leaves are bipinnate three parts dissolved in countless leaf-like structures. After the initial growth phase, the sheet remains stable through the summer until the nutrients in the fall to move back into the tuber. The remains of the leaf dry out and loosen it from the tuber.
The plant is monoecious getrenntgeschlechtig ( monoecious ). Adult plants form an inflorescence in early spring. This consists of a dark purple piston ( spadix ), length up to 55 cm, that of a bract ( spathe ) is covered. Sit below the top female and male florets on the piston. As with many species of the genus Amorphophallus flows of inflorescence from a strict carrion. This attracts the insects that ensure pollination. Flowers Ecologically it is a Kesselfallklamm flower. Pollination occurs in two steps. The insects are lured into the bottom of the boiler case flower. There they pollinate the bottom of the piston seated female single flowers with pollen brought from other individuals. The insects remain at the base of the spathe, until the female flowers can not be pollinated. Only then open the top of the piston located ligands male flowers and pour their pollen on the insects which then carry the pollen to the next inflorescence. By this mechanism, the self-pollination is prevented.
System
The first description by the German botanist Karl Heinrich Emil Koch was published in 1858. There are the following synonyms:
- Amorphophallus rivieri Durieu ex Carrière
- Amorphophallus konjac rivieri var ( K. Koch ) Engl
Cultivation
The konjac root is a rare, but less demanding container plant. In this case, their hand will be in humic and permeable soil up to 1.8 m high and as large in diameter. In autumn, the leaf falls apart and the tuber can be chilly, winter protected from frost. From a weight of about 500 g of the tuber is formed in the early spring a pretty impressive flower that smells similar strict as the big brother Titan Arum. The amazing thing about it: the tuber drives the inflorescence without being potted.
The Devil's Tongue forms during the growing season daughter tubers which are no longer connected by the end of the vegetation period with the mother tuber.
Use
The tuber is rich in glucomannans ( polysaccharides ). It shows excellent film-forming properties and is hydrating.
Particularly in Japan, the konjac root is used in the food industry. In the EU, the flour of konjac ( konjac ) is traded as a food additive E 425. The konjac root is often used for cosmetic products.
In Japanese cuisine konjac is used in dishes such as oden. Typically it `s mottled gray, of gel-like consistency and almost tasteless. It is a food with low energy density, the more because of its texture ( gustatory property) is estimated as for its taste.
Japanese Konjakgel is made by konjac flour is mixed with water and saturated calcium hydroxide solution. Often this hijiki is added to give the mixture a different flavor and a dark color. Thereafter, the mixture is cooked and cured. Konjac in noodle form is called " Shirataki " and is used in foods such as sukiyaki and gyudon.
Konjac is also used in the popular fruit snacks that are offered in Plastikbecherchen: jelly mini-cups ( "jelly mini - cups" ). These snacks are often exported from Asian countries. In the late 1990s, concerns arose (there were deaths by suffocation within and outside the EU) to be able to choke on these snacks, which led to recalls in the United States and Canada. Unlike gelatine konjac does not solve quickly in the mouth. Therefore, the snacks always carry warnings that indicate parents that their children need to chew snacks well before swallowing. However, EU Directive 95/2/EC amended to limit the amount Konjac gum and konjac glucomannan - in food to 10 g / kg, published in the Official Journal of the European Communities, 2002 / C 331 E/26. The import of jelly mini- cups in the EU is prohibited.
Male flowers ( already over )
Female flowers