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Yacon
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Posted by daisyduckworth Aust (My Page) on Tue, Aug 25, 09 at 21:36
| Does anyone know how to make yacon syrup at home? Commercially, it's made from the roots of the South American plant, Smallanthus sonchifolius (formerly Polymnia sonchifolia).
The roots are supposed to be good for diabetics, and a syrup made from it is claimed to be far better for you than sugar-syrups. |
Follow-Up Postings:
RE: Yacon
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| Nope. But a webpage I read said that it is made like maple syrup and you needed an "evaporator." Unfortunately it didn't say more than that. I know I've seen info on Yacon in some of the different places I order vegetable seeds & plants but none list any information now - wrong season to plant it in the US. But I did manage to find this with some googling around, yacon info. But going back to maple syrup, that you will find TONS of information on how it is made. Living in the land of maple syrup as I do, we learn as kids how maple syrup is made, tour places that make it, have festivals during the "sugaring" season, etc. For maple syrup the sap is collected from the trees in very early spring and it is boiled down for a long time until through reduction until it becomes a syrup. No special equipment is really used save the spiles (taps), collection buckets, a kettle and an open wood fire. The process used comes from the Native Americans that lived in this part of America from which the knowledge of maple syrup comes from. FataMorgana |
RE: Yacon
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| Evaporator, huh. Perhaps that means that I can extract the juice from the roots, and boil it down to syrup consistency. Waddya reckon? |
RE: Yacon
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| I had to look up the term "spiles" when I wrote the last post. I knew the "taps" used to get the sap from maple trees had a specific name but I couldn't recall it. The first place I checked was a retail place for maple syrup making equipment. They had "evaporators." Looks like a modern upgrade to the kettle over a wood fire that makes the boiling down process far more efficient. Here's the link with the evaporators. But I think that you are right about extracting the juice and boiling seeming to be the way. The other link I sent in the first post talked about starches being converted to sugars in the roots. It seems as though storage of the roots may lead to more sugars in the roots. FataMorgana |
RE: Yacon
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| Sounds like it is a big plant requiring 3-4 foot of space for each plant. It can be eaten fresh but if it is like maple syrup you will need about 30-50 gallons of sap to make one gallon of syrup. Since this is your spring Daisy now is the time to plant. One of the articles I read stated you need crown tissue and not just roots to have a growing plant. |
RE: Yacon
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| I know this is an old post -- but thought this could be useful for other people looking up how to make yacon syrup. Here's a pdf that goes through the entire process in detail. http://www.cipotato.org/publications/pdf/002250.pdf |
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