Root vegetable


Root vegetables are underground plant parts eaten by humans or animals as food. In agricultural and culinary terminology, the term applies to true roots, such as taproots and root tubers, as well as non-roots such as bulbs, corms, rhizomes, and stem tubers.

Description

Root vegetables are generally energy storage organs containing carbohydrates such as starches and sugars.

List of root vegetables

The following list classifies root vegetables organized by their roots' anatomy.

Modified plant stem

  • Corm
  • *Amorphophallus konjac
  • * Colocasia esculenta
  • * Eleocharis dulcis
  • * Ensete spp.
  • * Nymphaea spp.
  • * Pteridium esculentum
  • * Sagittaria spp.
  • * Typha spp.
  • * Xanthosoma spp.
  • * Colocasia antiquorum
  • Bulb
  • * Allium cepa
  • * Allium sativum
  • * Camassia quamash
  • * Foeniculum vulgare
  • Rhizome
  • * Alpinia galanga
  • * Arthropodium spp.
  • * Canna spp.
  • * Cordyline fruticosa
  • * Curcuma longa
  • * Maranta arundinacea
  • * Nelumbo nucifera
  • * Panax ginseng
  • * Typha spp.
  • * Zingiber officinale
  • Tuberous stem
  • * Apios americana
  • * Cyperus esculentus
  • * Helianthus tuberosus
  • * Hemerocallis spp.
  • * Lathyrus tuberosus
  • * Oxalis tuberosa
  • * Plectranthus edulis and P. esculentus
  • * Solanum tuberosum
  • * Stachys affinis
  • * Tropaeolum tuberosum
  • * ''Ullucus tuberosus''

    Root-like stem

  • ''Zamia integrifolia''

    True root

  • Taproot
  • * Arracacia xanthorrhiza
  • * Beta vulgaris
  • * Brassica spp.
  • * Bunium persicum
  • * Burdock
  • * Carrot
  • * Celeriac
  • * Daikon – the large East Asian white radish
  • * Dandelion spp.
  • * Horseradish
  • * Lepidium meyenii
  • * Microseris lanceolata
  • * Pachyrhizus spp.
  • * Parsnip
  • * Petroselinum spp.
  • * Radish
  • * Scorzonera hispanica
  • * Sium sisarum
  • * Tragopogon spp.
  • * Vigna lanceolata
  • Tuberous root
  • * Amorphophallus galbra
  • * Conopodium majus
  • * Dioscorea spp.
  • * Dioscorea polystachya
  • * Hornstedtia scottiana
  • * Ipomoea batatas
  • * Ipomoea costata
  • * Manihot esculenta
  • * Mirabilis expansa
  • * Pediomelum esculentum
  • * ''Smallanthus sonchifolius''

    Uses

Many root vegetables keep well in root cellars, lasting several months. This is one way of storing food for use long after harvest, which is especially important in nontropical latitudes, where winter is traditionally a time of little to no harvesting. There are also season extension methods that can extend the harvest throughout the winter, mostly through the use of polytunnels.
Starchy root vegetables are of particular economic importance as staple foods, especially in tropical regions. They overshadow cereals throughout much of Central and West Africa, as well as Oceania, in these areas being used directly or mashed to make foods such as fufu or poi.