Recognize this vegetable ?

[BigNibbler]

Came across this in produce market. Foreign name. Never ate it.
It is very juicy and tastes good.
Shaped like an onion. Feels like a potato. Super hard outside. Very juicy and crispy inside.
Anyone know what it is and if it is safe or good for squirrels?
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[BigNibbler]

It tastes very good! Like a parsnip, but not so sweet. Not bitter. Neutral.
Anyone know what it is, and if it is safe ?

[HRT4SQRLS]

Is it a Jicama? Yes ... I think it is. Google jicama and look at images. It looks like yours.

http://www.nutrition-and-you.com/jicama.html

Sorry, I don't know anything about them. :tilt
Read the safety warning at the bottom of the link. I don't think I would give it to my squirrels but that's just me.

[BigNibbler]

Is it a Jicama? Yes ... I think it is. Google jicama and look at images. It looks like yours.

http://www.nutrition-and-you.com/jicama.html

Sorry, I don't know anything about them. :tilt
Read the safety warning at the bottom of the link. I don't think I would give it to my squirrels but that's just me.


YES! That's it. I could not recognize it from that photo. But here - this is exactly what I got
http://www.cookinglight.com/cooking-101/essential-ingredients/jicama

So who knows if it is safe ?
Guess you can tell that I am a meat eater !

[HRT4SQRLS]

Maybe Stosh will know if the wilds in CR eat it. Being native to Mexico and commonly found in Latin markets, I bet it is common in CR also.

[BigNibbler]

Thank you HRT!
I see that it is also called a Yam Bean.
I would bet that someone must have posted about this in the last 8 years.

[BigNibbler]

bump

[CritterMom]

I would never in a hundred million years feed something that is used to make an insecticide...

[BigNibbler]

I would never in a hundred million years feed something that is used to make an insecticide...

IT IS? I said I never heard of it, but it seemed very popular.
That is like marigolds and pyrethrens ?
Wait, that is the seeds or the vines. I read about that.
Where are the seeds in this. Inside ?

But we feed avocado - skin and pit is poisonous.

OK, I FIND THIS
The vigorous vining tops, which can reach 10-20 feet in length, have compound leaves with pointed edges. The plant bears white flowers and clusters of long, green lima bean-like pods on the fully developed plants. Removing the flowers at an early stage is said to yield better root production.

The mature seeds of the jicama plant contain a significant levels of rotenone, an insecticide, and commercial culture of the plant was once considered as a source of this insecticide. The vines, roots, beans, and mature pods are poisonous, but the immature pods are cooked up in many countries.

Jicama is rarely described for itself, but is compared to something else (apple/potato, waterchestnut, pear, potato/pear). The shape may be globular, turnip shaped, or lobed (a crosscut looks like a four-leafed clover).

I WILL TRASH IT UNLESS OTHERS SAY THEY HAVE HAD GOOD EXPERIENCE WITH IT. CERTAINLY NOT TAKING A CHANCE!

[CritterMom]

Is it a Jicama? Yes ... I think it is. Google jicama and look at images. It looks like yours.

http://www.nutrition-and-you.com/jicama.html

Sorry, I don't know anything about them. :tilt
Read the safety warning at the bottom of the link. I don't think I would give it to my squirrels but that's just me.

Read this link to the bottom. They make rotenone from it - leaves and seeds particularly but it can be found in the flesh, too.

[BigNibbler]

Read this link to the bottom. They make rotenone from it - leaves and seeds particularly but it can be found in the flesh, too.

THIS? What am I missing ?
Health benefits of Jicama

Jicama is one of the very low calorie root vegetables; carrying only 35 calories per 100 g. However, its high quality phyto-nutrition profile comprises of dietary fiber, and anti-oxidants, in addition to small proportions of minerals, and vitamins.

It is one of the finest sources of dietary fiber; particularly excellent source of oligofructose inulin, a soluble dietary fiber. The root pulp provides 4.9 mg or 13% of fiber. Inulin is a zero calorie sweet inert carbohydrate. It does not metabolize inside the human body, which make the root an ideal sweet snack for diabetics and dieters.

As in turnips (http://www.nutrition-and-you.com/turnips.html), fresh yam bean tubers are also rich in vitamin C; provide about 20.2 mg or 34% of DRA of vitamin C per 100 g. Vitamin-C is a powerful water-soluble anti-oxidant that helps body scavenge harmful free radicals, thereby offers protection from cancers, inflammation and viral cough and cold.

It also contains small levels of some of valuable B-complex group of vitamins such as folates, riboflavin, pyridoxine, pantothenic acid and thiamin.

Further, the root provides healthy amounts of some important minerals like magnesium, copper, iron and manganese.

[HRT4SQRLS]

No ... This. It is further down in the article.

Safety profile

Jicama plant contains significant levels of fat-soluble organic toxin, rotenone. It is concentrated especially in the leaf tops, stems and seed pods but at much lower levels in the roots. Several studies found that it is linked to the development of Parkinson's disease. However, peeled roots are safe for human consumption, including in children. Rotenone works at cellular level inhibiting several metabolic enzymes like NADH dehydrogenase in the mitochondria. Outside, it is used as environmentally safe broad-spectrum insecticide, piscicide (to poison fish), and pesticide. (Medical disclaimer).

[BigNibbler]

GOTCHA! Thanks. so poison would be 200X potent in my friends.
trashed the turnip!

[Kristi S]

Personally, I wouldn't worry. It's the peel on the roots that has the rotenone - and in much smaller quantities than in the rest of the plant. Even the safety warning quoted says it may be safely fed to children. I eat jicama all the time, and I love it. The safety warning makes it sound like it's the vegetable that is linked to Parkinsons, but it's the rotenone, and as long as you peel it, it should be fine. Squirrel bodies are smaller, sure, but they would also be eating a lot less of it (I peel them and eat them like apples, but no core to worry about. Nice and juicy and crunchy, some sweeter than others. Look for hard ones with no evidence of mold. Yum!).

According to this site, it even enhances calcium absorption! http://foodfacts.mercola.com/jicama.html


Low in calories but high in a few vital nutrients, jicama is a bit of a contradiction when it comes to its starch content. It provides one-quarter of what's needed daily in fiber per serving. But not just any fiber - jicama's fiber is infused with oligofructose inulin, which has zero calories and doesn't metabolize in the body. Inulin, a fructan, promotes bone health by enhancing absorption of calcium from other foods, protecting against osteoporosis. Inulin has a prebiotic role in the intestine – it promotes “good” bacteria growth that maintains both a healthy colon and balanced immunity. Because it has a very low glycemic index, jicama is a great food for diabetics, and low in calories for those interested in weight reduction.

Jicama is also an excellent source of fiber and vitamin C - 44% of the daily value per serving - and a powerful antioxidant that zaps free radicals to protect against cancer, inflammation, viral cough, cold, and infections.

[BigNibbler]

Thank you Kristi
I am always looking for food to add to their diet.
Good foods.
Did not know what it was - neither did the checkout guy. So he only charged me a a few cents.
Figured I would try it.
But everyone here was very negative on it.
So I chucked the whole thing.
I am not a gambler.
Specially with other nibblers' lives!

If anyone has actual long term empirical evidence of nibblers actually eating this - I would like to know though. And Thanks again Kristi.
I did read that it aids in calcium absorption, so that convinced me that it had to be too good to be true !

[Kristi S]

I understand - better safe than sorry! There are plenty of alternative edibles out there, anyway.


I hadn't heard of food plants that aid in calcium absorption (at least in humans; who knows if that's true of squirrels), but apparently inulin is also found in asparagus, bananas, chicory, leeks/onions/garlic/etc. and Jerusalem artichokes. Huh!

Jicama seems new to most supermarket cashiers I've encountered, but it is widely eaten in Mexico and some Asian countries, and has been for centuries. I've looked at a over two dozen sites (searching for "jicama rotenone," "jicama safety" and "jicama safety research") and found no evidence that the white flesh is a problem. It's listed in The Encyclopedia of Healing Foods, and sites such as university extension programs and the USDA don't suggest any health concerns to humans.

There are always going to be new, untried potential squirrel snacks. There are also foods that don't have obvious, immediate effects on health, such as spinach and chard, but that aren't recommended, as well as foods that are toxic to humans but that squirrels can handle fine, like many species of fungus, and those that humans can handle but some animals can't (e.g. dogs and grapes). Since different species handle foods differently, there's always an element of risk in adding something new to the diet, but in the case of jicama it appears unlikely that rotenone is a factor, and there are benefits to humans...but squirrels? Who knows?


Great question! Taught me a few things about jicama. I never would have guessed it was high in vitamin C and antioxidants.


(Just another list of inulin benefits in humans. From WebMD.)

Inulin may:

Decrease constipation. In one study, older people with constipation who took 15 grams of inulin daily for a month had less trouble with constipation.

Increase helpful bacteria in the colon. Because it has this effect, inulin is called a prebiotic. Prebiotics may have numerous health benefits. They may:

Help increase the amount of calcium and other minerals you absorb from food
Support a healthy immune system
Relieve intestinal problems
Inulin may also lower levels of triglycerides, a type of blood fat.

[BigNibbler]

Maybe it deserves some further analysis.

[LeilaNami]

Maybe it deserves some further analysis.

Aw don't trash it. Just eat it yourself with guacamole. Tastes good and a healthy alternative to chips :grin3 :rotfl