• 1-3 (some to 6 or 7) percent protein, 17-34 percent carbohydrate, some Vit C

• Can be grown at high elevations of over 11,000 ft.

• Origin -- South America

• largely low elevations

• origin -- northwestern South America

• Important food plant of the tropics in both hemispheres

• mainly lowland but can be grown to 6,000 ft

• Origin in New World

• root with less than 1% protein but up to 30% in leaves

• may contain high amounts of poisonous cyanogenic glucosides

• best grown in humid regions

• greatest production in West Africa

• southeastern Asia second in production

• labor intensive relative to food produced

• many wild species contain toxic substances

• 30% starch, 3% sugar, and less than 1% protein

• members of family contain calcium oxalate crystals

• important in Polynesia (poi)

• most are sterile triploids

• origin in southeastern Asia

• carried from Africa to Americas in 1516

• 1871 railroad in Costa Rica ----- United Fruit Company

• person might eat 24 bananas a day if the only source of calories

• contains serotonin that may be slightly poisonous

• important export crop for tropical lowlands

• 70% sugar, 2% protein, 2% fat, fair source of vitamins and minerals

• warm, humid regions, most grown in southeastern Asia

• Florida is the farthest place from the equator where they are known to grow

• Little known to us but of great importance to people of other regions

• coconut oil (highly saturated)

• tree, 40-60 ft high

• mulberry family

• origin in Polynesia and introduced into West Indies

• Captain Bligh, H.M.S. Bounty, etc.