Top: Yacon Morado towering over Spilanthes and Tulsi. Bottom: Yacon Blanco. Yacon is a Quechua word: yacu and unu both mean water, and yakku means watery. It is depicted on textiles and ceramics found in the coastal archaeological sites in Nazca, Peru (500-1200 AD). It was later spread as far as Colombia and northern Argentina by the Incas. The first known written record was in 1615 by Felipe Guaman Poma de Ayala, a Quechua nobleman who spoke against the Spanish treatment of native people of the Andes. Yacon has large, sweet, and juicy tubers that were eaten as a thirst quencher by Inca messengers as they travelled the winding paths of the Andes. In Bolivia and beyond, the tubers are eaten by people with diabetes and digestive problems. In Brazil and Japan, people are using the dried leaves to treat diabetes, though a recent study warned that long-term consumption of yacon leaves could cause renal problems. From Peru to northern Argentina, yacon is eaten during the Corpus Cristi festival which displaced the Cápac Raymi festival of Inca times (which also still happens in some places). In Ecuador, yacon is eaten during Todos los Santos and Dia de los Muertos. This plant has been propagated for hundreds of years (if not longer) by dividing the crown and tubers (asexual reproduction), so it is hard to get viable seed unless you cross-pollinate certain different varieties together - something that Cultivariable (in Washington state) and several others are working on successfully. #yacon #yaconblanco #yaconmorado #smallanthussonchifolius #quechuafood #incafood #andeantubers #capacraymi #corpuschristifestival #inulin #diabetes
