Preface

Root vegetables may be found in a wide variety of plant species; they include potatoes, carrots, beet, and turnips. Root vegetables often act as storage organs extended to store energy in the form of carbohydrates. They vary in terms of the quantities of starches, sugars, and a wide variety of other types of carbohydrates that they contain. Starchy root vegetables are important staple foods, especially in tropical countries. They have supplanted cereals over a significant area of Central Africa, West Africa, and Oceania, where they are consumed either directly or mashed to form dishes like *fufu* or *poi*. Those that have an exceptionally high concentration of carbohydrates in the form of starch are particularly valuable from an economic standpoint.

When preserved in root cellars, the vast majority of root vegetables are able to keep their quality and freshness for a number of months beyond harvesting, which is especially important at latitudes that are not tropical, since winter is typically a season when there is very little or no harvesting. A variety of methods may be used to lengthen the growing season, enabling harvesting to continue far into the winter. The use of polytunnels is essential to the success of these methods.

I hope that this book will act as a handbook for students, researchers, and practitioners working in the field of root vegetables research, as well as stimulating future study ideas by proposing relevant research topics. The book is arranged in 13 chapters, each presenting an overview of background material on the topic within each chapter and recent developments.

> **Dr. Prashant Kaushik** Universitat Politecnica de Valencia, Valencia, Spain

> > CULTA Inc., Tokyo, Japan

**1**

Section 1

Composition of Root

Vegetables

Section 1
