Hidden deep in the Amazon rainforest, a highly poisonous plant has been transformed into a food mainstay thanks to the ingenuity of indigenous peoples. Cassava, the fourth most important crop in the world (but practically unknown in temperate regions) was “domesticated” for the first time 10,000 years ago on the edge of the Amazon basin in Brazil.
Through millennia of expert selection and elaborate processing techniques, indigenous people have tamed its toxicity, unlocking its impressive potential. Today, this humble plant is emerging as a possible global crop for a more sustainable future.
From wild plant to domestic crop
One of the greatest difficulties of the first human beings, you know, was to obtain enough food. Our ancient ancestors relied on hunting and gathering, catching prey on the move and gathering edible plants at every opportunity.
They were extraordinarily good, so much so that their populations grew dramatically, emerging from the cradle of humanity in Africa 60,000 years ago (or perhaps earlier). Yet, there was still room for improvement. Looking around for food burns calories. You basically consume something while you’re trying to catch it. This paradox forced hunter-gatherers into a compromise: burn calories foraging or save calories by staying home?
Luckily, they eventually found a way out.
The domestication of plants and animals was a real turning point. People discovered that when plants and animals were domesticated, it was no longer necessary to chase them. And they could be selectively bred, producing larger fruits and seeds and better, more plentiful meat to eat.
Cassava has been the champion domesticated plant in the Neotropics. It spread throughout the region, reaching sites as far away as Panama within a few thousand years. Growing cassava obviously hasn’t completely eliminated the need to forage in the forest, but it has lightened the load, providing an abundant and reliable food supply close to home.
The “character” of cassava
One of cassava’s most important strengths, its resistance to parasites, comes from a powerful defense system. The system is based on two chemical substances produced by the plant, the linamarina and the linamarase.
These defensive barriers are found within cells throughout the plant: in the leaves, stem and tubers, where they usually remain dormant. However, when cassava cells are damaged, such as by chewing or crushing them, linamarin and linamarase react, releasing a burst of harmful substances.
One of them is known: cyanide gas. The “toxic cocktail” also contains other unpleasant substances, including compounds called nitriles And cyanohydrins. High doses of these substances are lethal, and chronic exposure permanently damages the nervous system. Together, these poisons deter herbivores so well that cassava is nearly impenetrable to pests.
How did the indigenous people “tame” cassava?
No one knows the exact moment of the turning point, but the ancient Amazons devised a complex, multi-step detoxification process that transformed cassava from inedible to delicious.
The process begins with grinding of the starchy cassava roots on grater tables studded with fish teeth, rock chips or, in more modern times, a rough sheet of tin. Grating mimics chewing by pests, causing the root to release cyanide and cyanohydrins. The difference? These substances become airborne, not in the lungs and stomach as when eaten.
Subsequently, the grated cassava is placed in rinsing baskets where it is repeatedly rinsed, hand-squeezed and drained. The action of water releases more cyanide, nitriles and cyanohydrins, and juicing eliminates them.
Finally, the resulting pulp can be driedwhich further detoxifies it, or cooked, which completes the process using heat. These steps are so effective that they are still used throughout the Amazon today, thousands of years after they were first devised.
Bet on cassava: it is a powerful crop, ready to spread
The traditional Amazon methods of grinding, rinsing and cooking are a sophisticated and effective means of converting a poisonous plant into a meal. Yet, in the Amazon they have gone further, transforming cassava into a true domestic crop.
Today there are more than 70 distinct varieties of cassava that are highly diverse, physically and nutritionally. Millennia after its advent, we are only at the beginning for this plant. Its durability and resilience make it easy to grow in variable environments, even when soils are poor. From its milling a naturally gluten-free flour is obtained. Its natural resistance to parasites reduces the need to protect it with industrial pesticides.
Do we bet that it will invade the shelves in the next few years? If you are thinking of opening a food startup, think about it. Then you will tell me.
