name: Taro

flavor_db_name_variants: taro

source: foodb

status: draft

food_db_id: Taro

id: 488

name_scientific: Colocasia esculenta

description: Taro is a common name for the corms and tubers of several plants in the Araceae family. Of these, Colocasia esculenta is the most widely cultivated. Taro is native to southeast Asia. It is a perennial, tropical plant primarily grown as a root vegetable for its edible starchy corm, and as a leaf vegetable. It is a food staple in African, Oceanic and Asian cultures and is believed to have been one of the earliest cultivated plants. Colocasia is thought to have originated in the Indo-Malayan region, perhaps in eastern India and Bangladesh, and spread eastward into Southeast Asia, eastern Asia, and the Pacific islands; westward to Egypt and the eastern Mediterranean; and then southward and westward from there into East Africa and West Africa, whence it spread to the Caribbean and Americas. It is known by many local names and often referred to as 'elephant ears' when grown as an ornamental plant.

itis_id: 42549

wikipedia_id: Taro

picture_file_name: 499.jpg

picture_content_type: image/jpeg

picture_file_size: 126657

picture_updated_at: 2012-04-20T09:37:53.000Z

legacy_id: 526

food_group: Vegetables

food_subgroup: Root vegetables

food_type: Type 1

created_at: 2011-02-09T00:37:45.000Z

updated_at: 2019-05-14T18:05:26.000Z

creator_id: null

updater_id: null

export_to_afcdb: false

category: specific

ncbi_taxonomy_id: 4460

export_to_foodb: true

public_id: FOOD00488