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Aroid Production and Postharvest Practices

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Encyclopedia of Food and Agricultural Ethics
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Synonyms

Arum; Biodiversity; Cocoyam; Eddoes; Edible aroids; Elephant ear; Elephant foot yam; Food security; Orphan crops; Roots and tubers; Smallholder farming systems; Swamp taro; Tannia (Latin Araceae: Alocasia, Amorphophallus, Colocasia, Cyrtosperma, Xanthosoma); Taro; Yam

Introduction

This entry will explore the significance of aroids (L. Araceae) in different cultural settings and regions of the world and examine ethical issues associated with tangible and intangible aspects of aroids in the global food system. Aroids are the world’s oldest cultivated crops. All plant parts are eaten, but most often they are cultivated for their starchy underground parts. The plants but also numerous aroid dishes carry a deep symbolic meaning and cultural value in numerous communities in and from Austronesia, Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, Latin America, and the Mediterranean. At present aroids are the sixth most important root and tuber crops and rank fourteenth among staple vegetable crops in...

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Correspondence to Karin Vaneker .

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© 2019 Springer Nature B.V.

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Vaneker, K. (2019). Aroid Production and Postharvest Practices. In: Kaplan, D.M. (eds) Encyclopedia of Food and Agricultural Ethics. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-024-1179-9_386

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