Yacón (Smallanthus sonchifolius) aka Bolivian Sunroot
Yacón is an Andean root crop in the sunflower family (Asteraceae), related to dahlias, Jerusalem artichokes and sunflowers! The plants produce edible storage roots, which have been called ground apple for their sweet taste and crunchy texture. After a little curing and exposure to sunlight, the roots become sweeter as the Fructooligosaccharide (FOCs) are converted into fructose, glucose and sucrose.
Jump to Yacón Notes | Jump to Yacón Varieties
OUR WORK
- In 2021 The Utopian Seed Project plans to keep working with more varieties and begin developing regional market opportunities. We will also attempt to grow yacón from seed saved in 2020.
- In 2020 we trialed three new varieties from William Whitson’s crop improvement work at Cultivariable. We’ll be assessing their productivity in the Southeast as well as the flavor of the roots.
- In 2019, a small planting of just six plants of ‘Yanna’s’ variety produced a large quantity of at our experimental farm, which we served at our annual Trial to Table Farm Dinner.
- Prior to 2019, board member, Yanna Fishman has been growing a single yacón variety for a number of years. It is a proven producer in this region and we are building on her work.
This morning, for science, I am drinking a lot of coffee. Here is a 50/50 mix of coffee beans and roasted yacon grounds (dried left over yacon after juicing for yacon syrup). The yacon grounds were still sweet and after dry roasting took on a pleasant nutty type aroma.
Yacon aka Bolivian Sunroot (Smalanthus sonchifolius) is an Andean root crop in the sunflower family that produces crisp and sweet storage tubers over a long growing season.
Some last minute #yacon digging before the snow...
Yacon / Bolivian Sunroot / Smallanthus sonchifolius harvest is coming in. We have a variety we've been working with for a few years plus three varieties from the breeding work of @cultivariable.
These are the yacon varieties we grew this year. Three from the @cultivariable improvement program and our 'local' one, which obviously isn't local but has been grown here for a long time (I'm tracking down more info at the moment). The local one looks prettier because it's more recently harvested. We made chips yesterday and today we're making syrup, more details to follow!
The yacon or Bolivian sunroot is enjoying this warm weather. We have started a lot of the variety we've been growing in WNC (named, Cusco). We'll be selling starts at the @ashevilleherbfest first weekend of May in a shared booth with @sowtrueseed
Well, this is exciting. First time I've seen Yacon (Bolivian sunroot) flower. This is one of the @cultivariable varieties and currently the only open flower. If we get seed then we can start our own breeding program.
A few weeks ago we made yacon syrup and shared in with board member, Chef Ashleigh Shanti. Here's what she did with it 😍
Three different varieties of yacon aka Bolivian sunroot are growing really well (source: @cultivariable), with Achira (Canna edulis) poking its head up in the background! We'll wait as long as possible to harvest, but things are looking good.
Three varieties of yacon (aka Bolivian Sunroot) from @cultivariable . We're trialing these against an unknown variety that we've been growing in this region for years. It's a great tuber producing crop, with a sweet flavor and crunchy texture, which is why they are sometimes also called ground apples!
The craziest thing happened when I sipped the coffee... I was transported straight to a high Andean Bolivian village where I was working with a school group on constructing a greenhouse for the community. We were using massive ecalytus posts as the main structure.
In the mornings we were given breakfast and coffee by the local women and the coffee came black and sweet but with an unusual taste that I never questioned but couldn't identify. Today, I think, I know what they were using... Now I need to go into research mode and see if this is a common practice!
#yacon #boliviansunroot #yaconcoffee #andeanroots
You can eat yacon raw, but here we sliced and dehydrated. The dried slices have a raisen-y texture and sweetness!
#yacon #boliviansunroot #tuspyacon #experimentalroots #andeanrootcrop
#boliviansunroot #experimentalfarm #experimentalroots
After working with the dahlia tuber harvest, it's interesting to start recognizing the family relationship (both yacon and dahlias are members of the sunflower family, as are sunchokes or Jerusalem artichokes).
High inulin content, edible raw, crunchy and crisp texture. Yacon benefits from a curing process where it sweetens up a lot.
#andeanrootcrops #yacon #boliviansunroot #experimentalfarm #experimentalroots #croptrials #cropdiversity #sunflowerfamily
#tuspyacon #yacon #boliviansunroot #experimentalroots #andeanrootcrop
#yacon #boliviansunroot #tuspyacon #andeanroots #rootcrops
#yacon #boliviansunroot #flowers #seedsaving #plantbreeding
We've got the BEST team behind this project 💚
#Repost @foodordeath_ (@get_repost)
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Yacon Syrup from @blueandyellowmakes, Garum, Fermented Tumeric and Young Pinecone Capers on this HUGE wreckfish collar... wild, crazy and sooo intense. I CANNOT WAIT to open a restaurant so your minds can be just as blown 🤯😆
#tuspyacon #yaconsyrup #starchef
#experimentalfarm
#experimentalroots #andeanrootcrops #roots #tubers #rhizomes #yacon #boliviansunroot
#achira #canna
It's about this time in the season when we begin running out of space! One day we'll build a geothermal passive solar greenhouse, but for now we juggle plants and hope for warm weather as the plants continue to grow!
#yacon #boliviansunroot #andeanrootcrops #experimentalroots
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