cassava

Cassava is a widely grown root crop, first introduced to africa by Portuguese traders from brazil in the sixteenth century. The peeled root is eaten after the boiling or roasting, and some varieties yield a type of flour.Toxic cyanohydrin derivative present in the plant are removed during processing. If the root is eaten without processing, illness and even death can result from high level of HCN. HCN is a celluler poison with a charecteristic almond odor.