What is a jicama?

By Chelsie Vandaveer

June 5, 2003

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Jicama [he' cah ma] is a name derived from Nahuatl xicama or xicamatl, a name the Aztecs gave to several edible roots. Commercially, jicama usually refers to the root of the yam-bean (Pachyrhizus erosus (L.) Urban). There are two main varieties: jicama de leche which contains a milky juice and jicama de agua which has a clear juice.

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Jicama is peeled and usually eaten raw; the vegetable has a light sweet taste. It stores well when refrigerated and actually becomes sweeter with age. Starches in the root convert into sugars, but stored too long and the taste is ruined. ("Jicama", Aggie Horticulture, Texas A&M University)

Yam-bean rapidly grows to a huge vine 6 to 9 meters (20 to 30 feet) in length. From seed, the vines need nine months of warm weather to produce the swollen roots, but they also need days with 15 or fewer hours of sunlight. The vines are usually kept pruned to 5 feet and the inflorescences pinched off to produce better roots.

The yam-bean is a legume, a member of the Fabaceae or bean family. Yam-beans are native from Mexico to South America and have been introduced to tropical areas worldwide. Although the roots are edible, the above ground parts of the plant are extremely toxic especially the pods and seeds.

Native Americans used the crushed seeds as a fish poison. Cast over the surface of a lake or river, stunned fish rise to the surface and are easily caught. The fish poison produced in the seed is the insecticide rotenone. ("Pachyrhizus tuberosa subsp. erosus" Kemper Center for Home Gardening, Missouri Botanical Garden, 2002)

Pharmazeutische Biologie has posted a photograph of Pachyrhizus erosus taken by Kazuo Yamasaki. To view the yam-bean, click on the link:

http://pharm1.pharmazie.uni-greifswald.de/systematik/7_bilder/yamasaki/yamas150.jpg

Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia has information and a photograph of very large roots of Pachyrhizus erosus, in the Fabaceae. To learn more and to view the photograph, click on the link:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jicama

Chef2Chef Culinary Portal has a great easy recipe for pink grapefruit and jicama salad. To view the recipe, click on the link:

http://recipe-salad.com/recipes/293204.shtml

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