“Let food be
thy medicine and medicine be thy food” - Hippocrates
Yams (Dioscorea)
This page is provided for interest and information
purposes only, as you cannot eat the true yam raw because it can make you
sick. In the west the "sweet potato" is called a "yam", but this is a
different plant. You can find out more about sweet potatoes here
sweet potatoes
The true
yam is a member of the Dioscoreaceae family. It has a root which is a
potato-like tuber. The plant grows up like a vine. It produces nodules
known as "tubercles" hanging on the vine structure. These can be used
for propagation or food purposes.
In West
Africa, the yam tuber grows
to about 1.5 metres long. It's an important crop in West Africa,
particularly Nigeria, and also New Guinea. These tubers can last for 6
months kept dry without refrigeration.
You can
buy prepared and dried powdered yam in specialist African supply shops.
This is typically mixed with water and prepared and used like an instant
mashed potato.
In the
United States and Canada the sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas) is called a
yam, so recipe books from these regions refer to the sweet potato when
they specify yam.
In New
Zealand, the root crop that they call a yam is technically not a true
yam but is a member of the Oxalis family.
The New Zeeland "yam" yields a
small, thumb sized, pink sweet tuber. There are other varieties with
different colours. These are usually smaller.
In the
Philippines, purple yams (Dioscorea alata) are used to make the Ube
Halaya dish. This is a mixture of cooked purple yams, coconut milk
and some form of sweetner.
The clip
on the right uses the purple yam Dioscorea bulbifera. I'm not sure what
this plant is.
There is
the Japanese mountain yam (Dioscorea opposita) which, if suitably
prepared to remove the oxalate, can be eaten raw.
True Yams- Tubercle Propagation
Purple Yam - "Ube" - Dioscorea bulbifera
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