• Common name : Colocasia
• Scientific name : Colocasiaesculenta
• Family : Araceae
• Native land : Wetlands of Malaysia
Taro is a herbaceous plant. It became a staple crop, cultivated for its large, starchy, spherical underground tubers, which are consumed as cooked vegetables. Young taro leaves are commonly used in the cooking of West and Central Africa. Taro corms (called taro roots) are short underground stems rich in starch. Unlike most starchy vegetables, they are high in amylose, a starch soluble in hot water, and contain 3% sugar which makes them somewhat sweet. Taro leaves and tubers are poisonous if eaten raw; the calcium oxalate they contain must first be destroyed by heating.
