TITLE:
Cocoyam (corms and cormels)—An underexploited food and feed resource
AUTHORS:
Patricia G. Owusu-Darko, Alistair Paterson, Emmanuel L. Omenyo
KEYWORDS:
Cocoyams; Starch; Non-Starch Polysaccharides; Colocasia esculenta; Xanthosoma sagittifolium; Calcium Oxalate
JOURNAL NAME:
Journal of Agricultural Chemistry and Environment,
Vol.3 No.1,
February
28,
2014
ABSTRACT: Cocoyams (old-taro: Colocasia esculenta; newtannia: Xanthosoma sagittifolium) yield corms as root crops produced in regions of tropical and subtropical developing countries. In certain countries such as Ghana, there are surpluses in production but deficits in cereals. Cocoyams are used in a range of indigenous foods. Post harvest losses are high due to mechanical damage of corms during harvest and microbial attacks on such damaged corms during storage. Cocoyams contain, on average, 25% starch (wet weight basis) with A-type structures characterized by small granule size (