where is the food stored in a yam plant
an edible tuber
title: Yam (vegetable) text: storage systems. Sprouting rapidly increases a tuber's respiration rates, and accelerates the rate at which its food value decreases. Certain cultivars of yams store better than others. The easier to store yams are those adapted to arid climate, where they tend to stay in a dormant low-respiration stage much longer than yam breeds adapted to humid tropical lands, where they do not need dormancy. Yellow yam and cush-cush yam, by nature, have much shorter dormancy periods than water yam, white yam, or lesser yam. Storage losses for yams are very high in Africa, with insects alone causing over 25% harvest title: Yam (vegetable) text: world average annual yield of yams was 8.8 tonnes per hectare in 2014, with Ethiopia having the most productive farms of 29.7 tonnes per hectare. Roots and tubers such as yam are living organisms. When stored, they continue to respire, which results in the oxidation of the starch (a polymer of glucose) contained in the cells of the tuber, which converts it into water, carbon dioxide, and heat energy. During this transformation of the starch, the dry matter of the tuber is reduced. Amongst the major roots and tubers, properly stored yam is considered to be the least perishable. Successful title: Yam (vegetable) text: tubers can grow up to in length and high. The tuber may grow into the soil up to deep. The plant disperses by seed. The edible tuber has a rough skin difficult to peel, but softens after heating. The skins vary in color from dark brown to light pink. The majority of the vegetable is composed of a much softer substance known as the "meat". This substance ranges in color from white or yellow to purple or pink in mature yams. Yam crop begins when whole seed tubers or tuber portions are planted into mounds or ridges, at the beginning title: Yam (vegetable) text: world's yam crop is harvested. Yams are still important for survival in these regions. Some varieties of these tubers can be stored up to six months without refrigeration, which makes them a valuable resource for the yearly period of food scarcity at the beginning of the wet season. Yam cultivars are also cultivated in other humid tropical countries. Yam is the main staple crop of the Igbos in south eastern Nigeria where for centuries it played a dominant role in both their agricultural and cultural life. It is celebrated with annual yam festivals Taro paste, a traditional Cantonese cuisine, which title: Yam (vegetable) text: storage of yams requires: Storing yam at low temperature reduces the respiration rates. However, temperatures below cause damage through chilling, causing a breakdown of internal tissues, increasing water loss and yam's susceptibility to decay. The symptoms of chilling injury are not always obvious when the tubers are still in cold storage. The injury becomes noticeable as soon as the tubers are restored to ambient temperatures. The best temperature to store yams is between , with high-technology-controlled humidity and climatic conditions, after a process of curing. Most countries that grow yams as a staple food are too poor to afford high-technology