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( Taro)
Taro (from Tahitian or other Polynesian languages), more rarely kalo (from Hawaiian), is a tropical plant grown primarily as a vegetable food for its edible corm, and secondarily as a leaf vegetable. It was concidered a staple in oceanic cultures. It is believed to be one of the earliest cultivated plants.[1] Taro is closely related to Xanthosoma and Caladium, plants commonly grown as ornamentals, and like them it is sometimes loosely called elephant ear. In its raw form the plant is toxic due to the presence of calcium oxalate,[2][3] although the toxin is destroyed by cooking[4] or can be removed by steeping Taro roots in cold water overnight. Taro was probably first native to the lowland wetlands of Malaysia (taloes). Estimates are that taro was in cultivation in wet tropical India before 5000 B.C., presumably coming from Malaysia, and from India further transported westward to ancient Egypt, where it was described by Greek and Roman historians as an important crop. Taro's scientific name is Colocasia esculenta (synonym C. antiquorum); esculent is an English word taken directly from Latin and means edible. The Xanthosoma genus is closely related, and several common names including callaloo and coco or cocoyam are used to refer to either Taro or domesticated Xanthosoma species which share substantially the same uses. Taro may be distinguished as "taro cocoyam" or "old cocoyam", with the term "new cocoyam" referring to species of Xanthosoma. In Kenya, taro root is referred to as arrow root, or by the Kikuyu word nduma. In South Africa, it referred to by the Zulu word amaDumbe[5] or the anglicised madumbi[6]. In some Caribbean countries, it is sometimes known as dasheen, a name said to be derived from the French de Chine which means from China and evokes the plant's Asian origins. The leaves are used to make a soup popular in the West Indies, called kallaloo soup. In Cyprus it is known as kolokassi, which is similar to the name the Romans used colocasia. Taro is also known as dalo In the Fijian Islands. Eddoe is another name for taro, although this one seems to be preferentially used to designate small corm varieties.
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Best regards
Mary Ann Copson
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