PAPER

BIOCHEMISTRY
Cassava as the Carbohydrate Source
This assignment was arranged as the final task of the course: Bichemistry
Lecturer: Dr. Rer Nat Senam

Name

: Iga Indah Pertiwi

NIM / Prodi

: 13303244035 / Chemistry Education

Class

:I

Semester

:6

CHEMISTRY EDUCATION DEPARTEMENT

FACULTY OF MATHEMATIC AND SCIENCES
YOGYAKARTA STATE UNIVERSITY
2016

CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
A. Background
Cassava, in Indonesia is called ketela pohon, is one of the food from the
mature roots of cassava trees. Cassava (also called manioc or yucca) is droughttolerant and its mature roots can maintain their nutritional value for a long time
without water. Cassava may represent the future of food security in some
developing countries.
Today it is used as staple food and animal feed in tropical and subtropical
area in Africa, Asia, and Latin America, with an estimated total cultivated area
greater than 13 million hectares, of which more than 70% is in Africa and Asia
(EL-Sharkawy, 2003). Approximately 500 million people depend on it as a major
carbohydrate source, in part because it yields more energy per hectare than other
major crops. Cassava is grown predominantly by small-scale farmers with limited
resources in marginally fertile soils; it is resistant to adverse environments and
tolerates a range of rainfall (El-Sharkawy 2003). Tapioca, a commercially
important starch product common in the United States, is produced from cassava
roots.
A cassava crop is maturing for at least eight months roots and it can be
harvested for a few years. New plants grow easily from cuttings. The root is
carbohydrate-rich, protein-poor, and must be boiled, roasted, fermented or
otherwise processed to tame compounds that can produce toxic hydrogen cyanide
during digestion. Nevertheless, an estimated 800 million people worldwide eat
cassava. In Africa 500 million depend on the root as their main staple.

Because many cassava consumers live in developing countries, the plant

has not received the intense breeding that has benefited crops more familiar to the
Western world such as corn, wheat, and rice. However, in the past decade, cassava
has started to garner attention. China and Thailand use it to make high-quality
starch, and some countries see the crop as a potential biofuel. Whats more,
cassava will likely do well in the worlds changing climate; it survives drought
when other crops have failed and flourishes in warmer temperatures.
Because of its carbohydrate rich and other benefits, cassava can be used as
the replacement of the rice in developing country such as in Indonesia. There
some poor people in Indonesia that barely survives with just eating very low
quality of rice. It happens because in Indonesia the eating rice become very
prominent. With using cassava as the carbohydrate source, it can increase the
quality life of the poor people, especially in Indonesia.

B. Problems
1. What are the nutritional values in cassava roots?
2. What are the health benefits of cassava?
3. How is the content of carbohydrates in cassava roots?

C. Benefits
1. To know the nutritional values in cassava roots.
2. To know the health benefits of cassava.
3. To know the content of carbohydrates in cassava roots.

CHAPTER II
CONTENTS
A. Cassava
Manihot esculenta, cassava, is a perennial woody shrub in the
Euphorbiaceae (spurge family) native to South America but now grown in tropical
and sub-tropical areas worldwide for the edible starchy roots (tubers), which are
an major food source in the developing world, in equatorial regions including
Africa, South America, and Oceania. Also known as yuca (although not related to
the genus Yucca), manioc, and tapioca, the dried root is the source of tapioca
(used in the U.S. to make pudding).
The cassava shrub may grow to 2.75 meters (9 feet) tall, with leaves
deeply divided into 37 lobes. The shrub is often grown as an annual, and
propagated from stem cuttings after tubers have been harvested. The fruit is small,
roughly 1 cm (1/2 inch) in diameter, but root tubers in cultivated varieties (which
require 918 months to grow to harvestable size) can be 510 cm in diameter and
1530 cm long.
Cassava is attractive as nutrition source in certain ecosystems because
cassava is one of the most drought-tolerant crops, can be successfully grown on
marginal soils, and gives reasonable yields where many other crops do not grow
well. Cassava is well adapted within latitudes 30 north and south of the equator,
at elevations between sea level and 2,000 m (6,600 ft) above sea level, in
equatorial temperatures, with rainfalls from 50 mm (2.0 in) to 5 m (16 ft)
annually, and to poor soils with a pH ranging from acidic to alkaline. These
conditions are common in certain parts of Africa and South America.

Cassava is a highly productive crop in terms of food calories produced per

unit land area per unit of time, significantly higher than other staple crops.
Cassava can produce food calories at rates exceeding 250,000 cal/hectare/day
compared with 176,000 for rice, 110,000 for wheat, and 200,000 for maize (corn).
Cassava has several other things going for it as a survival crop in addition
to being drought-resistant, nutritionally rich and easy to grow. These advantages
include:

Resistance to natural and other disasters - Because the roots grow

underground, they are resistant to frost, storms and even fires.

High yields - Cassava can provide as much as 20 pounds of food per plant and
offers a higher yield than most other grains and tubers.

Ability to stay in the ground - Cassava roots can be left in the ground for
several months beyond their maturation, if there is no threat of a hard freeze.

Long-term storage potential - Cassava roots can be frozen, dried or ground

into flour for long-term storage.

Marauder-resistant - Because the roots grow underground, cassava is not an

easy crop for animals or humans to raid.

B. Nutrients Value of Cassava Roots

Cassava roots are very rich in starch and contain significant amounts of
calcium (50 mg/100g), phosphorus (40 mg/100g) and vitamin C (25 mg/100g).

However, they are poor in protein and other nutrients. In contrast, cassava leaves
are a good source of protein (rich in lysine) but deficient in the amino acid
methionine and possibly tryptophan.
Cassava root is essentially a carbohydrate source. Its composition shows
6065% moisture, 2031% carbohydrate, 12% crude protein and a
comparatively low content of vitamins and minerals. However, the roots are rich
in calcium and vitamin C and contain a nutritionally significant quantity of
thiamine, riboflavin and nicotinic acid. Cassava starch contains 70%
amylopectin and 20% amylose. Cooked cassava starch has a digestibility of over
75%.
Cassava, like other foods, also has ant nutritional and toxic factors. Of
particular

concern

are

the cyanogenic

glucosides of

cassava

(linamarin and lotaustralin). On hydrolysis, these release hydrocyanic acid

(HCN). The presence of cyanide in cassava is of concern for human and for
animal consumption. The concentration of these antinutritional and unsafe
glycosides varies considerably between varieties and also with climatic and
cultural conditions. Selection of cassava species to be grown, therefore, is quite
important. Once harvested, bitter cassava must be treated and prepared properly
prior to human or animal consumption, while sweet cassava can be used after
simple boiling.
The composition of cassava depends on the specific tissue (root or leaf)
and on several factors, such as geographic location, variety, age of the plant, and
environmental conditions. The roots and leaves, which constitute 50% and 6% of
the mature cassava plant, respectively, are the nutritionally valuable parts of
cassava (Tewe and Lutaladio, 2004). The nutritional value of cassava roots is
important because they are the main part of the plant consumed in developing
countries. In Table 1, the proximate, mineral, and vitamin compositions of
cassava roots and leaves are reported. In Table 2, the nutrient composition of raw
cassava is compared to other staple crops, such as wheat and corn, and some
vegetable and animal foods.

Table 1. Proximate, vitamin, and mineral composition of cassava roots and

leaves.
Raw
cassava

Cassava
roots

Cassava
leaves

Proximate composition (100 g)

Food energy (kcal)

160

110 to 149

91

Food energy (KJ)

667

526 to 611

209 to 251

Moisture (g)

59.68

45.9 to 85.3

64.8 to 88.6

Dry weight (g)

40.32

29.8 to 39.3

19 to 28.3

Protein (g)

1.36

0.3 to 3.5

1.0 to 10.0

Lipid (g)

0.28

0.03 to 0.5

0.2 to 2.9

Carbohydrate, total (g)

38.06

25.3 to 35.7

7 to 18.3

1.8

0.1 to 3.7

0.5 to 10.0

0.62

0.4 to 1.7

0.7 to 4.5

Thiamin (mg)

0.087

0.03 to 0.28

0.06 to 0.31

Riboflavin (mg)

0.048

0.03 to 0.06

0.21 to 0.74

Niacin (mg)

0.854

0.6 to 1.09

1.3 to 2.8

Ascorbic acid (mg)

20.6

14.9 to 50

60 to 370

5.0 to 35.0

8300 to
11800

Calcium (mg)

16

19 to 176

34 to 708

Phosphorus, total (mg)

27

6 to 152

27 to 211

0.6

1.6 to 5.48

2.5

0.27

0.3 to 14.0

0.4 to 8.3

Potassium (%)

0.25 (0.72)

0.35 (1.23)

Magnesium (%)

0.03 (0.08)

0.12 (0.42)

Copper (ppm)

2.00 (6.00)

3.00 (12.0)

Dietary fiber (g)

Ashe (g)
Vitamins

Vitamin A (g)
Minerals

Ca/P
Iron (mg)

Zinc (ppm)

Raw
cassava

Cassava
roots

Cassava
leaves

14.00
(41.00)

71.0 (249.0)

76.00
(213.00)

51.0 (177.0)

3.00 (10.00)

72.0 (252.0)

Sodium (ppm)
Manganese (ppm)

Table 2. Nutritional composition of different kinds of foods (100 g) for comparison to cassava root.
Food

Water
(g)

Energy
(kcal)

Energy
(kj)

Protein
(g)

Total
lipid
(g)

Ash
(g)

Carbohydrate
by difference
(g)

Dietary
fiber (g)

Sugars
(g)

Cassava,
raw root

59.68

160

667

1.36

0.28

0.62

38.06

1.8

1.7

Potato, raw

79.34

77

321

2.02

0.09

1.08

17.47

2.2

0.78

Wheat flour,
unenriched

11.92

364

1523

10.33

0.98

0.47

76.31

2.7

0.27

Bread,
wheat

35.74

266

1115

10.91

3.64

2.2

47.51

3.6

5.75

Rice, white,
unenriched

12.89

360

1506

6.61

0.58

0.58

79.34

Corn, sweet,
white, raw

75.96

86

358

3.22

1.18

0.62

19.02

2.7

3.22

Corn,
yellow

10.37

365

1527

9.42

4.74

1.2

74.26

7.3

0.64

9.2

339

1418

11.3

3.3

1.57

74.63

6.3

Cereals

Sorghum

Vegetables (raw)
Green beans

90.27

31

129

1.82

0.12

0.66

7.13

3.4

1.4

Carrots

88.29

41

173

0.93

0.24

0.97

9.58

2.8

4.74

Water
(g)

Energy
(kcal)

Energy
(kj)

Protein
(g)

Total
lipid
(g)

Ash
(g)

Carbohydrate
by difference
(g)

Dietary
fiber (g)

Sugars
(g)

Spinach

94

14

59

1.5

0.2

1.8

2.5

Lettuce,
green leaf

95.07

15

61

1.36

0.15

0.62

2.79

1.3

0.78

Soybeans,
green

67.5

147

614

12.95

6.8

1.7

11.05

4.2

Food

Animal products
Raw egg
(white)

87.57

52

216

10.9

0.17

0.63

0.73

0.71

Cheese,
Cheddar

36.75

403

1684

24.9

33.14

3.93

1.28

0.52

Milk
(whole)

88.32

60

252

3.22

3.25

0.69

4.52

5.26

Raw fish
(trout)

71.42

148

619

20.77

6.61

1.17

C. The Health Benefits of Cassava Roots

D. There are some health benefits of cassava roots:
a. Cassava has nearly twice the calories than that of potatoes and perhaps one of
the highest value calorie food for any tropical starch rich tubers and roots. The
100 g cassava root provides 160 calories. Their calorie value mainly comes
from sucrose which accounts for more than 69% of total sugars. Amylose (1617%) is another major complex carbohydrate sources.
b. Cassava is very low in fats and protein than in cereals and pulses.
Nonetheless, it has more protein than that of other tropical food sources
like yam, potato, plantains, etc.
c. As in other roots and tubers, cassava too is free from gluten. Gluten-free
starch is used in special food preparations for celiac disease patients.
d. Young tender cassava (yuca) leaves are a good source of dietary proteins and
vitamin K. Vitamin-K has a potential role in bone mass building by promoting
osteotrophic activity in the bones. It also has established role in the treatment
of Alzheimer's disease patients by limiting neuronal damage in the brain.
e. Cassava is a moderate source of some of the valuable B-complex group of
vitamins such as folates, thiamin, pyridoxine (vitamin B-6), riboflavin, and
pantothenic acid.
f. It is one of the chief sources of some important minerals like zinc,
magnesium, copper, iron, and manganese for many inhabitants in the tropical
belts. In addition, it has adequate amounts of potassium (271 mg per 100g or
6% of RDA). Potassium is an important component of cell and body fluids
that help regulate heart rate and blood pressure.
E.

F. Carbohydrates in Cassava Roots

G. Cassava is the third largest source of food carbohydrates in the tropics,
after rice and maize. Cassava is a major staple food in the developing world,
providing a basic diet for over half a billion people (Claude and Denis, 1990:
404). Cassava root is essentially a carbohydrate source. Its composition shows

6065% moisture, 2031% carbohydrate, 12% crude protein and a

comparatively low content of vitamins and minerals.
H. Cassava root is an energy-dense food. In this regard, cassava shows
very efficient carbohydrate production per hectare. It produces about 250000
calories/hectare/d, which ranks it before maize, rice, sorghum, and wheat
(Okigbo, 1980). The root is a physiological energy reserve with high carbohydrate
content, which ranges from 32% to 35% on a fresh weight (FW) basis, and from
80% to 90% on a dry matter (DM) basis. Eighty percent of the carbohydrates
produced is starch (Gil and Buitrago, 2002); 83% is in the form of amylopectin
and 17% is amylose (Rawel and Kroll, 2003). Roots contain small quantities of
sucrose, glucose, fructose, and maltose (Tewe and Lutaladio, 2004). Cassava has
bitter and sweet varieties. In sweet cassava varieties, up to 17% of the root is
sucrose with small amounts of dextrose and fructose (Okigbo, 1980; Charles et al,
2005). Raw cassava root has more carbohydrate than potatoes and less
carbohydrate than wheat, rice, yellow corn, and sorghum on a 100-g basis. The
fiber content in cassava roots depends on the variety and the age of the root.
Usually its content does not exceed 1.5% in fresh root and 4% in root flour (Gil
and Buitrago, 2002).
I. A 100-gram serving of cassava flour approximately 3.5 ounces
contains 340 calories. The majority of these calories, 94 percent, come from
carbohydrates. Approximately 4 percent of the calories are from fat, and 2 percent
of the calories are from protein. Cassava flour's contains high carbohydrate
content means it serves as an excellent source of energy, and provides fuel to keep
your brain functioning properly. Each serving of the flour offers 79.8 grams of
carbohydrates, or 61 percent of the 130 grams recommended for daily
consumption by the Institute of Medicine.

J. CHAPTER III
K. CONCLUSION
L.
1. The nutritional values in cassava roots are that the cassava roots contains
carbohydrates, minerals (such as calcium, iron, phosphorus, etc) and vitamins
(such as vitamin C, A, and B).
2. The health benefits of cassava are:
- as the energy source because it contains a lot of carbohydrate,
- as the dietary food because it contains low fats and proteins,
- as special food for celiac disease patients because it free from gluten,
- as the source of Vitamin-K for bone mass building by promoting
-

osteotrophic activity in the bones,

for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease patients by limiting neuronal

damage in the brain,

as the moderate source of some of the valuable B-complex group of
vitamins such as folates, thiamin, pyridoxine (vitamin B-6), riboflavin,

and pantothenic acid,

as sources of some important minerals like zinc, magnesium, copper, iron,
and manganese for many inhabitants in the tropical area, and

To help regulate heart rate and blood pressure because it contain adequate
amounts of potassium.

3. The content of carbohydrates in cassava roots is 2031% of carbohydrate.

M.
O.
P.
Q.

R.
S.

T.
U.

REFERENCES
N.

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Gil, J.L. and Buitrago A.J.A. 2002. La yuca en la alimentacion animal.
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modernos de produccin, procesamiento, utilizacin y comercializacin. Cali,
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