It is sweet and very healthy. Its cultivation is unpretentious and manages our conditions without a problem. What is it? Jakon! You can also try to grow it.
Exotic
Do you know what Jakon is? You might not know it from the picture. Tubers similar to potatoes, flowers like sunflower. But there is a very interesting food behind the not very visible exterior. Sometimes it is called a super tuber. It was definitely called the Incas, who have a lot of experience with this crop.
Jakon comes from South America, namely from Peru, Bolivia and Colombia. It was here that the Incas were grown hundreds of years before the arrival of Europeans. Jakon, however, came to Europe only recently. What’s more. It is not just an exotic crop for which you have to go to the hypermarket offering exotic fruits and vegetables. Jakon can also be grown in the Czech gardens.
The flower resembles a tiny sunflower and growth and leaves are similar. In the ground, however, it creates tubers that are harvested in autumn, ideally only after they pass through the first frosts. The tubers are then sweeter.
How to grow it? Jakon will also introduce this post from the YouTube channel Daniel Lehocky.
Source: YouTube
Superfood: Sweet but Diet Jakon
Although this crop is sometimes compared with avocado, it is a completely different type of food. But they have in common that both are tremendously healthy. And if you have the opportunity to include them in your diet, you should definitely try it.
Jakon is very sweet and refreshing, tastes like something between apple, pear and watermelon. Although sweet, it has a low glycemic index and caloric value. It contains so -called inulin and fructooligosaccharides that make it easy to digest. Overall, it has a very beneficial effect on the intestinal microbiom. In addition to these substances, it contains vitamins of group B, potassium, calcium and a large number of antioxidants. Thanks to the low glycemic index, it is also suitable for diabetics or for those who fight weight.
But what to do with such a strange potato? The tubers are edible and raw. Just peel and cut them into salad, add to fruit drinks or eat them just like that. Fruits can also be baked or dried. In South America, syrup or tea is made from Jakon, which has strong anticoagulant effects. The perfect combination offers Jakon together with carrots, citrus, apples or spices that we normally combine with these fruits. He certainly suits him cinnamon and ginger.
How to grow?
It is advisable to start with surgery of seedlings in March or you can buy them in the horticulture already ready for planting. Plants are thermophilic and therefore it is necessary to plant them only after frozen. Prepare a flower bed with soil rich in nutrients and ideally and irrigation. Rostines require a lot of moisture throughout the growing period, as the tubers are mainly consisting of water. Therefore, droplet irrigation is used in large growing rooms.
Nitrogen fertilizers also suit both during growth and before planting. Already in the preparation of the flower bed you can enrich the soil with organic substances rich in nitrogen such as well -matured manure. From the domestic fertilizers, it is useful to use nettle or jacket from hen.
Plants are planted in spacing of about 45 cm, harvested most often in October and it is also necessary to think of storage or processing, as the tuber will dry over time.
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