Cyperus scariosus
lat. Cyperus scariosusGroup: Fruits and Vegetables
BOTANICAL NAME:
Cyperus esculentus
Cyperus esculentus var. esculentus
Cyperus esculentus var. angustispicatus
Cyperus esculentus var. leptostachyus
Cyperus esculentus var. macrostachyus
FAMILY - Cyperaceae
Cyperus esculentus var. leptostachyus
COMMON NAME
Yellow nut sedge, chufa, chufa flat sedge, rush nut, watergrass, earth almond, ground almond, tiger nut, northern nutgrass and nutgrass. In Ayurveda it is known as Chichoda while in folk language it is called Kaseru (in Punjab, India).
BOTANY
It is an erect, perennial, grass like sedge, single-stemmed, erect, graminoid, up to 3 ft. tall underground. Along with fibrous roots, there are many slender rhizomes which form a tuber at each end. The leaves become grass-like and the blades are light green, smooth, glossy, and glabrous in texture. The plant has an extensive and complex system of fine, fibrous roots and scaly rhizomes with small hard, spherical tubers and basal bulbs (swelled rhizome tips which produce stems and leaves) attached.
Cyperus esculentus var. leptostachyus
Two types of rhizomes are produced: short rhizomes from germinating tubers which end in basal bulbs, and long wiry rhizomes from basal bulbs, which can end in tubers or basal bulbs. Tubers are unevenly globose, 0.3-1.9 cm in diameter, black to brown, hard, smooth (scales shed with maturity), with buds at the apex only. The tubers taste mildly almond-like, with a nutty flavor. The inflorescence is terminal, umbellate, umbel simple to compound, loose, with 1-10 narrow, unequal rays 0-6 in. (0-15 cm) long, and with 2-6 subtending leaf-like, unequal bracts forming an involucre with the longest involucral bract much exceeding the umbel, and often wider than basal leaves.
Dried edible tubers, which are nutty sweet, compared to bitter taste of C. rotundus (below)
DISTRIBUTION and HABITAT
This plant is ranked as the oldest cultivated plant of ancient Egypt. It is native to warm temperate to subtropical regions of the Northern Hemisphere and is indigenous to western Asia and Africa, recorded as occurring scattered from Punjab to the Nilgiri hills. It is a root crop, which grows widely in wet places as a grass and is sometimes cultivated for its small and sweet edible tubers.
CONFUSING IDENTIFICATION
Sedges (Cyperus) have grass-like leaves, having no hairs. They can be distinguished from grasses, even while young, by their triangular stems and triangular inflorescence stems, three-ranked leaves and their leaves lacking ligules, auricles, and collar regions while the grass stems are flat or round. There are several native Cyperus species that have distinct similarities to Cyperus esculentus. Purple nutsedge (Cyperus rotundus), another weedy non-native sedge found in southern Arizona, is very similar to yellow nutsedge (Cyperus esculentus). These two nutsedges can be found growing on the same site. The two species are difficult to distinguish from each other before blooming. Purple nutsedge has purplish spikelets, and the tubers that form on the rhizomes are often multiple and form chains, while in C. esculentus ther eis one at the tip of the rhizome. The tubers are oblong and covered with persistent reddish scales in C. rotundus, while roundish and smooth on C. esculentus.
Cyperus rotundus
Fatty acid compositions of TIGER NUTS
The most abundant saturated fatty acids in chufa nuts are Myristic acid, Palmitic acid, and stearic acid, whereas the main unsaturated fatty acids present are oleic acid and linoleic acid. An analysis of the tubers reveals moisture, oil, albuminoids, starch, digestible carbohydrates, fiber and mineral matter.
USES
The tubers are edible, and have a slightly sweet, nutty flavor. They are quite hard and are generally soaked in water before eaten.
The tiger nuts are used to extract vegetable milk which is known as “Horchata.” It may be used as substitute for traditional cow's milk. Horchata provides energetic refreshment. It helps to reduce bad cholesterol from the body and increases good cholesterol, due to its high oleic acid and Vitamin E contents.
The tubers are cooked as vegetables or are roasted, ground to a powder and used as a substitute or adulterant for coffee and cocoa.
On account of its high oil content, chufa flour made from the tubers is mixed with wheat flour to constitute a high-calorie food. The flour has a unique sweet taste and may used for making biscuits and cakes.
In Spain, the freshly gathered tubers are cleaned, pressed, and the separated emulsion of juice and oil cooled and consumed as a drink.
The tubers are also used as feed for swine and cattle.
In some parts of Nigeria, the tubers are eaten like nuts or pounded into cakes and served at the end of a meal. It is estimated that human dietary lipid requirements would be completed by eating 100 g of the tubers per day.
Images: Cyperus esculentus var. leptostachyus by John W. Everest @ USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / James H. Miller and Karl V. Miller. 2005. Forest plants of the southeast and their wildlife uses. University of Georgia Press., Athens.
Cyperus esculentus var. leptostachyus from researchlearningcenter.com
Author: Dr. Chandra Shekhar Gupta
Senior Research Fellow
Plant Quarantine Division
National Bearue of Plant Genetic Resources
Pusa Campus, New Delhi
Perfumes and Colognes With Cyperus scariosus
Kyphi Olympic Orchids Artisan Perfumes
O Blood
Popular brands and perfumes:
