Mashua

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The mashua or añu is a perennial plant grown in the Andes for its edible tuber. It is a major food source there. The tuber is rather peppery in flavor when raw, but this quality disappears when cooked.

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The plant is well adapted to high-altitude subsistence agriculture. It grows vigorously even in marginal soils and in the presence of weeds, and gives high yields; the tubers comprise as much as 75 percent of the mature plants by dry weight (40 percent is typical for cereals), and 70 tons per hectare have been produced under research conditions.

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Its extraordinary resistence to insect, nematode, and bacterial pests is attributed to high levels of isothiocyanates. In Columbia, it is planted as a companion crop to repel pests in potato fields.

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Mashua has also been used to treat nephropathy and as a diuretic.

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Popularization of mashua may be limited by its strong flavor, and its reputation as an antaphrodisiac.

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Perennial plant: A perennial plant or perennial (Latin per, "through", annus, "year") is a plant that lives for more than two years. Herbaceous perennials are plants that do not form woody tissue and the term perennial more commonly describes these plants, since woody plants (i.e., trees and shrubs) are always peren...

Tuber: :For the fungal genus, see Truffle....

Subsistence agriculture: Subsistence agriculture is agriculture carried out for survival — with few or no crops available for sale. It is usually organic, simply for lack of money to buy industrial inputs such as fertilizer and pesticides and genetically modified seeds. It is however not always sustainable agricultu...