How has a poisonous root become a fundamental part of the diet of those who live in the Amazon until it was finally considered the "bread of Brazil"? Cassava (Manihot Esculenta Crantz) derivatives – flours, starch, etc. – are only suitable for consumption after careful preparation to remove all the poison – hydrocyanic acid. Conversely, the edible version of cassava – macaxeira – can be eaten after a short preparation time. As well as being the basis of a flour that is almost compulsory on Amazonian people's tables, this root is becoming an important option for those with dietary restrictions, according to scientific studies carried out in Pará.

The largest producer of cassava in Brazil, the state of Pará, produced a total of 4.1 million tons of the product that is part of the staple diet of the majority of the Amazonian population. Data from the "Municipal Agricultural Production" survey by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE) indicates that the state's production generated R$3.1 million in revenue in 2022. In second place is Paraná, with R$2.3 million; and São Paulo, with R$1.1 million.

Experts point out that a large part of local production is still not exported. Soy, for example, has a lot of output from Pará. There were 2.5 tons produced in Pará, generating R$ 7.4 million for the sector in 2022 – almost double the revenue generated by cassava production.

Largest Cassava Producers in Brazil (2022)

Source: PAM / IBGE

What the researchers explain is that Pará is also an important consumer of the root, since it is part of the Amazonian food culture – unlike soy, which is exported to be processed in other states and countries. In Pará, most production takes place in the municipalities of Acará, Santarém, Oriximiná, Alenquer and Óbidos – with the majority being destined for flour, consumed in the state itself.

The flour made of cassava (or manioc flour), the tucupi, the maniva [ground cassava leave], the tapioca and even the tacacá (made with jambu, tucupi and cooked tapioca starch, which became even more famous with the hit song by Pará singer, Joelma) are all foods derived from the root considered to be native to South America – staple diet for 1 billion people, especially in developing countries such as Brazil – according to the Empresa Brasileira de Pesquisa Agropecuária  (Embrapa) [Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation].

Origin

It is widely known in the region that cassava cultivation has indigenous origins. Science reports that the consumption of cassava derivatives comes from the process of colonization in the Amazon – a determining factor linking the ancient culture of this root to what is eaten in the region today. In the Amazon, it is as if rice may be missing from the table, but cassava flour, never.

The focus of cassava cultivation in Brazil is the production of flour, but part of it  has been destined for starch (20% of national production, according to Embrapa). Projects developed in Pará show that the experience, in addition to flour, can help provide new forms of food for those with dietary restrictions, such as gluten intolerance. Cassava starch, then, replaces wheat in products such as cookies, cheese bread, sweets and cakes, among others.

An ancient culture in a new spotlight

Professor Priscilla Andrade is a lecturer on the Food Science and Technology Program at the Federal Rural University of Amazonia (UFRA). She coordinates the project "Quality of Açaí and Cassava Planting Systems in the Southeast of Pará", investigating mainly nutritional properties, new uses for the market and innovative craft products.

"The cassava chain has everything to grow. We can use absolutely everything from it, nothing is wasted. The peels can be used for feed, soil fertilizer; the leaves can be processed into “maniva”  and this “maniva” can also be a more concentrated product, dehydrated, and sold in small volumes. So, there are many alternatives for this very rich chain in the Amazon," she explains.

The professor’s research start at home, where she lives with her son who has dietary restrictions linked to cornstarch and wheat. "I spend most of my life running around trying to put together and balance the diet, not just for him, but for everyone at home. It's a race against time, which we have to face in order to replace the diet. These are extremely sensitive alternatives, and cassava has been successful in filling this lack of possibilities for those with restrictions – that's what I've shown in my scientific work," says the professor.

"I have accompanied many mothers of children, many of whom were born with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), and what we have seen is that the drugs administered to treat comorbidities conflict with a diet rich in gluten and lactose, that is, also derived from soy. So, the first recommendation in this treatment has been a gluten-free diet. The expansion of cassava production is a public health need, and that's what we're showing, as well as guidance so that starch production is strengthened from cassava and that this information be very visible on nutritional labels," says Priscilla.

For the professor, the production of small producers should be given a "more intensified look". "Cassava is roughly produced by small producers in the Amazon, so we need incentive policies aimed at the importance of this production here in the region. We have noticed this, and we have provided training courses and support, through UFRA, for these producers, especially in the rural areas of the southeastern region of Pará," she explains.

"There is no more practical product than flour," says researcher

With more than 20 books published on agriculture in the Amazon, Embrapa researcher Alfredo Homma says that he considers manioc to be one of the great discoveries of the indigenous people of the Amazon. "There is no more practical product than flour, which is easy to preserve and transport. This cultivation began around 3,500 years ago, in the Amazon, and I find it very interesting to ask myself who might have been the first indigenous person to try this root, a poisonous plant, and discover that it could be eaten. We don't know who he was, but science reports that this may have arisen from the observation of other animals, which ate the cassava 'potato', and this perception has brought us this food up to the present, feeding almost 1 billion people in the world," says Homma.

"I once read that flour on the plate warms up what's cold; inside the belly it gives sustenance. This food culture placed Brazil in the position of world's largest cassava producer until 1990, when it was overtaken by Nigeria in Africa, which is now the leading producer," explains the professor.

Homma says there are still limits to this production, speaking of the Amazon. “Unfortunately, our cassava production here in Pará, for example, is still lower than it could be. There is still considerable idle productivity. We need to improve this process, which is so important for our culture, our gastronomy, and which is increasingly being overtaken by soybean cultivation, for example.”

The origin of manioc

There is a legend told by Amazon indigenous people, published in the research work in Applied Linguistics and Language Studies by Maria do Carmo Pereira Coelho, which deals with the origin of cassava. The discovery meant that a poisonous plant found its way onto the plates of millions of people around the world:

"In a certain Indigenous tribe, the chief's daughter was pregnant. When the chief learned of this, he was very sad, as he had dreamed that his daughter would marry a strong and illustrious warrior. However, she was expecting a child from a stranger. One night, the chief dreamt that a white man appeared in front of him telling him not to be sad, because his daughter would not deceive him; she was still pure. From that day on, the chief became cheerful and treated his daughter well again. A few moons passed and the Indian gave birth to a beautiful girl with very white and delicate skin who was given the name MANI. Mani was a very intelligent and cheerful child and was much loved by everyone in the tribe. But one sunny morning, Mani didn't wake up as early as usual. Her mother went to wake her up and found her dead. Desperate, the Indian decided to bury her at the entrance to the maloca. Every day the grave was watered by her mother's longing tears. One day, when Mani's mother went to the grave to water it again with her tears, she noticed that a new plant had sprung up there. It was a totally different plant from the others, and unknown to all Indians in the forest. Mani's mother began to look after this little plant with the utmost care, until one day she noticed that the earth around it was cracking. The Indian woman imagined that her daughter was coming back to life and, full of hope, began to dig up the earth. In the place of her beloved little girl, she found the thick roots of a plant as white as milk, which became the staple food of all the indigenous tribes."