![[Manihot_esculenta_dsc07325.jpg]] [Cassava](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cassava) trees are native to central Brazil, where they were first domesticated between 10,000 and 7,000 years ago. Although the starch of the cassava tree, called manioc, is only familiar to most North Americans as tapioca or in bubble tea, the processed roots of this jungle tree are another of the world’s top five staple crops. Manioc feeds billions of people today in Asia and Africa. But unlike maize and potatoes, the roots of the cassava tree are mildly toxic in their raw form, containing cyanide compounds that must be removed before manioc can be eaten. Processing cassava roots involves grating, milling, fermenting, drying, and roasting—in various combinations depending on the end-product being produced. So in addition to discovering this food source when they settled in the Amazon, early Americans had to develop processing technologies to make it useable. ---- Next: [[1.15 - Effects of Transition]] Back: [[1.13 - Potatoes]]