Pachyrhizus ahipa

Andean tuber bean ( Pachyrhizus ahipa )

The Andean tuber bean ( Pachyrhizus ahipa, Syn. Dolichos ahipa Wedd ) is a species of the genus of yam bean ( Pachyrhizus ) in the legume family ( Fabaceae ).

The Andean tuber bean has its origins in the mountainous South America ( Andes of the German common name ), where it was used by the Incas. It grows at altitudes of 1000 to 2500 meters, which at moderate temperatures. There are mainly the tubers eaten, but also, although they are toxic, the pods and seeds are used. Today it is rarely cultivated.

Description

Pachyrhizus ahipa is a perennial herbaceous plant that reaches the heights of growth of 1 to 2 meters: it is, unlike the remaining species of the genus no climber. They form tubers as outlasting and as a water reservoir. However, it is grown as an annual plant, because the whole plant is harvested because of tubers and a Neuaussaat is required in the following year. The small, regularly shaped tuber has a yellow skin, white, fiber- Infused "meat" and weighs between 500 and 800 g The leaves are pinnate three parts. Both the two Seitenfiederblätter and the appointment Alfi Eder sheet are extremely asymmetric and broader than long.

The short inflorescence has a length of about 4 cm, and contains only a few flowers. The hermaphrodite flowers are zygomorphic. The crown is white or purple. It is made from about 8 to 11 cm long legume that contains brown to black, round seeds with about 1 cm in diameter.

Use

The tubers are very versatile prepared: raw in salads, boiled and fried. Legumes can be eaten cooked, as this the toxic rotenone is removed.

From the seeds of oil can be obtained.

Due to their rotenone contents find legumes and seeds use as an insecticide, acaricide and its saponins act as a fish poison.

Swell

• Walter H. Schuster, Joachim Alkämper, Richard Marquard & Adolf Stählin: legumes for grain usage: Kornleguminosen the world, Justus -Liebig- University of Giessen, 1998. Joachim Alkämper: Information on the Andean tuber bean ( Pachyrrhizus ahipa ). ( German )
• Entry at Plants for a Future. (English )

Further Reading

• Eduardo O. Leidi, DN Rodriguez- Navarro, M. Fernandes, R. Sarmiento, J. Semedo, N. Marques, A. Matos, AP Machado, B. Ørting, M. Sorensen, MC Matos: Factors Affecting root and seed yield in ahipa ( Pachyrhizus ahipa ( Wedd. ) Parodi ), a multipurpose legume crop, European journal of agronomy in 2004, Vol 20, 4, pp. 395-403, ISSN 1161-0301

• Schmetterlingsblütler
• Fruit vegetables
• Root vegetable
• Bean