{{short description|Plant roots used as a vegetable}}{{More citations needed|date=July 2024}}[[File:CarrotDiversityLg.jpg|upright=1.2|thumb|Carrot roots come in various shapes and colors]]'''Root vegetables''' are underground plant parts eaten by humans and other animals as [[food]]. In agricultural and culinary terminology, the term applies to true [[root]]s, such as [[taproot]]s and [[tuberous root|root tuber]]s, as well as non-roots such as [[bulb]]s, [[corm]]s, [[rhizome]]s, and [[Stem tuber|stem tubers]].<ref>{{cite book |last=López Camelo |first=Andrés F. |year=2004 |title=Manual for the Preparation and Sale of Fruits and Vegetables |publisher=Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations |page=[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_DwUdO9hPZ7sC/page/n14 6] |isbn=92-5-104991-2 |url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_DwUdO9hPZ7sC |access-date=2009-07-31 |quote=However, in the case of potatoes (Figure 10), sweet potatoes, and other root vegetables, readiness for harvest is based on the percentage of a specific size.}} Potatoes are technically not roots, and sweet potatoes are a type of root labeled as tuberous roots.</ref>
== Description == Root vegetables are generally energy [[storage organ]]s containing [[carbohydrate]]s such as [[starch]]es and [[sugar]]s.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Vanderschuren |first=Hervé |last2=Agusti |first2=Javier |date=2022-06-20 |title=Storage roots |url=https://www.cell.com/current-biology/abstract/S0960-9822(22)00429-8 |journal=Current Biology |language=English |volume=32 |issue=12 |pages=R607–R609 |doi=10.1016/j.cub.2022.03.034 |issn=0960-9822 |pmid=35728538|hdl=10251/198866 |hdl-access=free }}</ref>
==List of root vegetables== The following list classifies root vegetables organized by their roots' anatomy.
=== Modified plant stem === {{further|Plant stem}} [[File:Colocasia esculenta dsc07801.jpg|thumb|Taro corms]] * [[Corm]] **''[[Amorphophallus konjac]]'' (konjac) ** ''[[Colocasia esculenta]]'' (taro) ** ''[[Eleocharis dulcis]]'' (Chinese water chestnut) ** ''[[Ensete]]'' spp. (enset) ** ''[[Nymphaea]]'' spp. (waterlily) ** ''[[Pteridium esculentum]]'' ** ''[[Sagittaria]]'' spp. (arrowhead or wapato) ** ''[[Typha]]'' spp. ** ''[[Xanthosoma]]'' spp. (malanga, cocoyam, tannia, yautia and other names) ** ''[[Eddoe|Colocasia antiquorum]]'' (eddoe or Japanese potato) [[File:- Ginger -.jpg|right|thumb|Ginger rhizomes]] * [[Bulb]] ** ''[[Allium cepa]]'' (onion) ** ''[[Allium sativum]]'' (garlic) ** ''[[Camassia quamash]]'' (blue camas) ** ''[[Foeniculum vulgare]]'' (fennel) * [[Rhizome]] ** ''[[Alpinia galanga]]'' (galangal) ** ''[[Arthropodium]]'' spp. (rengarenga, vanilla lily, and others) ** ''[[Canna (plant)|Canna]]'' spp. (canna) ** ''[[Cordyline fruticosa]]'' (ti) ** ''[[Curcuma longa]]'' (turmeric) ** ''[[Maranta arundinacea]]'' (arrowroot) ** ''[[Nelumbo nucifera]]'' (lotus root) ** ''[[Panax ginseng]]'' (ginseng) ** ''[[Typha]]'' spp. (cattail or bulrush) ** ''[[Zingiber officinale]]'' (ginger) [[File:YamsatBrixtonMarket.jpg|right|thumb|Yam tubers]] * [[Tuber|Tuberous stem]] ** ''[[Apios americana]]'' (hog potato or groundnut) ** ''[[Cyperus esculentus]]'' (tigernut or chufa) ** ''[[Helianthus tuberosus]]'' (Jerusalem artichoke or sunchoke) ** ''[[Hemerocallis]]'' spp. (daylily) ** ''[[Lathyrus tuberosus]]'' (earthnut pea) ** ''[[Oxalis tuberosa]]'' (oca or New Zealand yam) ** ''[[Plectranthus edulis]]'' and ''[[Plectranthus esculentus|P. esculentus]]'' (kembili, dazo, and others) ** ''[[Solanum tuberosum]]'' (potato) ** ''[[Stachys affinis]]'' (Chinese artichoke or crosne) ** ''[[Tropaeolum tuberosum]]'' (mashua or añu) ** ''[[Ullucus tuberosus]]'' (ulluku)
=== Root-like stem === *''[[Zamia integrifolia]]'' (Florida arrowroot)
=== True root === {{further|Root}} [[File:Turnip 2622027.jpg |thumb|right|Turnips, a taproot]] * [[Taproot]] (some types may incorporate substantial [[hypocotyl]] tissue) ** ''[[ Arracacia xanthorrhiza]]'' (arracacha) ** ''[[Beta vulgaris]]'' ([[beet]] and [[mangelwurzel]]) ** ''[[Brassica]]'' spp. ([[kohlrabi]], [[rutabaga]] and [[turnip]]) ** ''[[Bunium persicum]]'' (black cumin) ** [[Burdock]] (''Arctium, family Asteraceae'') ** [[Carrot]] (''Daucus carota subsp. sativus'') ** [[Celeriac]] (''Apium graveolens rapaceum'') ** [[Daikon]] – the large East Asian white radish (''Raphanus sativus var. longipinnatus'') ** [[Dandelion]] (''Taraxacum'') spp. ** [[Horseradish]] (''Armoracia rusticana'') ** ''[[Lepidium meyenii]]'' (maca) ** ''[[Microseris lanceolata]]'' (murnong or yam daisy) ** ''[[Pachyrhizus]]'' spp. ([[jicama]] and ahipa) ** [[Parsnip]] (''Pastinaca sativa'') ** ''[[Petroselinum]]'' spp. ([[parsley]] root) ** [[Radish]] (''Raphanus sativus'') ** ''[[Scorzonera hispanica]]'' (black salsify) ** ''[[Sium sisarum]]'' (skirret) ** ''[[Tragopogon]]'' spp. ([[Tragopogon porrifolius|salsify]]) ** ''[[Vigna lanceolata]]'' (bush carrot or bush potato) [[File:Manihot esculenta dsc07325.jpg|right|thumb|Cassava tuberous roots]] * [[Tuberous root]] ** ''[[Amorphophallus galbra]]'' (yellow lily yam) ** ''[[Conopodium majus]]'' (pignut or earthnut) ** ''[[Dioscorea]]'' spp. ([[yam (vegetable)|yams]], [[Purple yam|ube]]) ** ''[[Dioscorea polystachya]]'' (nagaimo, Chinese yam, Korean yam, mountain yam, white ñame) ** ''[[Hornstedtia scottiana]]'' (native ginger) ** ''[[Ipomoea batatas]]'' (sweet potato or kūmara) ** ''[[Ipomoea costata]]'' (desert yam) ** ''[[Manihot esculenta]]'' (cassava or yuca or manioc) ** ''[[Mirabilis expansa]]'' (mauka or chago) ** ''[[Pediomelum esculentum]]'' (breadroot, tipsin, or prairie turnip) ** ''[[Smallanthus sonchifolius]]'' (yacón)
== Uses == Many root vegetables keep well in [[root cellar]]s, lasting several months. This is one way of [[food storage|storing food]] for use long after [[harvest]], which is especially important in nontropical [[latitude]]s, where [[winter]] is traditionally a time of little to no harvesting. There are also [[season extension]] methods that can extend the harvest throughout the winter, mostly through the use of [[polytunnel]]s.
Starchy root vegetables are of particular economic importance as [[staple food]]s, especially in [[tropical regions]]. They overshadow [[cereal]]s throughout much of [[Central Africa|Central]] and [[West Africa]], as well as [[Oceania]], in these areas being used directly or mashed to make foods such as [[fufu]] or [[Poi (Hawaiian food)|poi]].
== References ==
{{Reflist}}
== External links == {{Commons category|Root vegetables}} * {{cite web |last1=Armstrong |first1=Wayne P. |title=Wayne's Word: Vegetables From Underground |url=https://www2.palomar.edu/users/warmstrong/vege1.htm |website=Palomar College |access-date=16 January 2020 |archive-date=29 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220129094421/https://www2.palomar.edu/users/warmstrong/vege1.htm |url-status=dead }}
{{Authority control}}
[[Category:Root vegetables|']] [[Category:Edible plants|'vegetables, root]] [[Category:Lists of foods|vegetables, root]]