Konnyaku
Inflorescences
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae Phylum: Magnoliophyta Order: Alismatales Family: Araceae Genus: Amorphophallus Species: A. konjac
Binomial name
Amorphophallus konjac K. Koch

Konjac (Amorphophallus konjac; syn. A. rivieri; Japanese: 蒟蒻/菎蒻; こんにゃく; konnyaku; Chinese: 蒟蒻; pinyin: jǔ ruò), also known as konjak, konjaku, devil's tongue, voodoo lily, snake palm, or elephant yam (though this name is also used for A. paeoniifolius), is a plant of the genus Amorphophallus. It is native to warm subtropical to tropical eastern Asia, from Japan and China south to Indonesia. Image File history File links Description Inflorescence of Amorphophallus konjac Source Japanese wikipedia - ja:画像:W_konnyaku4051. ... For other uses, see Scientific classification (disambiguation). ... Divisions Green algae Chlorophyta Charophyta Land plants (embryophytes) Non-vascular plants (bryophytes) Marchantiophyta - liverworts Anthocerotophyta - hornworts Bryophyta - mosses Vascular plants (tracheophytes) †Rhyniophyta - rhyniophytes †Zosterophyllophyta - zosterophylls Lycopodiophyta - clubmosses †Trimerophytophyta - trimerophytes Pteridophyta - ferns and horsetails Seed plants (spermatophytes) †Pteridospermatophyta - seed ferns Pinophyta - conifers Cycadophyta - cycads Ginkgophyta - ginkgo Gnetophyta - gnetae Magnoliophyta - flowering plants... It has been suggested that Angiospermae, and Anthophyta be merged into this article or section. ... Families Alismataceae Aponogetonaceae Araceae Butomaceae Cymodoceaceae Hydrocharitaceae Juncaginaceae Limnocharitaceae Posidoniaceae Potamogetonaceae Ruppiaceae Scheuchzeriaceae Tofieldiaceae Zosteraceae The order Alismatales contains the alismatids, a group of monocotyledons (class Liliopsida). ... Genera See text. ... Species See text. ... In biology, binomial nomenclature is the formal method of naming species. ... Karl Heinrich Emil Koch (1809 - 1879) was a German botanist. ... In scientific classification, synonymy is the existence of multiple systematic names to label the same organism. ... It has been suggested that Pinyin method be merged into this article or section. ... Elephant foot yam (Amorphophallus paeoniifolious (Dennst. ... Species See text. ... World map showing the location of Asia. ...

It is a perennial plant, growing from a large corm up to 25 cm in diameter. The single leaf is up to 1.3 m across, bipinnate, and divided into numerous leaflets. The flowers are produced on a spathe enclosed by a dark purple spadix up to 55 cm long. Red Valerian, a perennial plant. ... A corm is a short, vertical, swollen underground stem of a plant (usually one of the monocots) that serves as a storage organ to enable the plant to survive winter or other adverse conditions such as summer drought and heat (estivation). ... The leaves of a Beech tree A leaf with laminar structure and pinnate venation In botany, a leaf is an above-ground plant organ specialized for photosynthesis. ... A Phalaenopsis flower A flower, (<Old French flo(u)r<Latin florem<flos), also known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants (plants of the division Magnoliophyta, also called angiosperms). ... Elephant ear or ape flower (Xanthosoma roseum) with a white spadix partially surrounded by a green-, rose-, and cream-colored spathe In botany, a spadix (pl. ... Elephant ear or ape flower (Xanthosoma roseum) with a white spadix partially surrounded by a green-, rose-, and cream-colored spathe In botany, a spadix (pl. ...

The corm of the konjac is often colloquially referred to as a yam, although it bears no marked relation to tubers of the family Dioscoreaceae. Yams at Brixton market For the term yam as used in the United States, see sweet potato. ... Not to be confused with benign tumours such as tuberous sclerosis. ... Genera Dioscorea Stenomeris Tacca Trichopus Dioscoreaceae are a family of monocot flowering plants. ...

Cultivation and use

Konnyaku gel

Konjac is grown in China, Japan and Korea for its large starchy corm, used to create a flour and jelly of the same name. It is also used as a vegan substitute for gelatin. Image File history File links Japanese food, Konnyaku. ... Image File history File links Japanese food, Konnyaku. ... Korea (Korean: 한국 or 조선, see below) is a geographic area, civilization, and former state situated on the Korean Peninsula in East Asia. ... Starch (CAS# 9005-25-8) is a complex carbohydrate which is insoluble in water; it is used by plants as a way to store excess glucose. ... Look up flour in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Look up jelly in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Hens kept in cramped conditions — the avoidance of animal suffering is the primary motivation of people who become vegans A vegan is a person who avoids the ingestion or use of animal products. ... Gelatin (also gelatine) is a translucent brittle solid substance, colorless or slightly yellow, nearly tasteless and odorless, which is created by prolonged boiling of animal skin, connective tissue or bones. ...

In Japanese cuisine, konnyaku appears in dishes such as oden. It is typically mottled grey, and firmer in consistency than most gelatins. It has very little taste; the common variety tastes vaguely like seaweed. It is valued more for its texture than flavor. There are many views of what is fundamental to Japanese cuisine. ... Oden (おでん) is a Japanese dish consisting of several ingredients such as boiled eggs, daikon radish, konnyaku, and chikuwa cooked in konbu or katsuobushi based dashi broth. ... Seaweed-covered rocks in the UK For the rock musician, see; Seaweed (musician) Seaweeds are any of a large number of marine benthic algae. ... In many areas related to the testing and evaluating of foodstuffs,such as wine-tasting and rheology, mouthfeel is a product’s physical and chemical interaction in the mouth from initial perception on the palate, to first bite, through mastication to swallowing. ...

Japanese konnyaku jelly is made by mixing konnyaku flour with water and limewater. Hijiki is often added for the characteristic dark color and flavor. Without additives for color, konnyaku is pale white. It is then boiled and cooled to solidify. Konnyaku made in noodle form is called shirataki (see shirataki noodles), and used in foods such as sukiyaki and gyudon. Look up jelly in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Lime water is the common name for saturated calcium hydroxide solution. ... Hijiki or hiziki (Japanese: 鹿尾菜 or 羊栖菜) (Sargassaceae), is a type of edible seaweed commonly found on rocky coastlines. ... Look up Noodle in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Shirataki noodles are thin, gelatinous traditional Japanese noodles made from the roots of the Konjac plant which grows in subtropical and tropical parts of eastern Asia. ... Sukiyaki This article refers to the food. ... Drivein Gyudon (at Honshu Shikoku contact bridge, Awaji service area) Sukiya is a major gyudon chain in Japan. ...

Japanese historical novelist Ryotaro Shiba claims in a 1982 travelogue that konjac is consumed in parts of Sichuan province; the corm is reportedly called moyu (魔芋), and the jelly is called moyu dofu (魔芋豆腐) or shue moyu (雪魔芋). Ryotaro Shiba (&#21496;&#39340;&#36988;&#22826;&#37070; Shiba Ry&#333;tar&#333;), born Teiichi Fukuda (&#31119;&#30000; &#23450;&#19968; Fukuda Teiichi, 1923-1996), is best known for his novels and essays based on historical events in Japan. ...   (Chinese: ; pinyin: ; Wade-Giles: SzÅ­4-chuan1; Postal map spelling: Szechwan and Szechuan) is a province in the central-western China with its capital at Chengdu. ...

Konjac can also be made into a popular Asian fruit jelly snack, usually served in bite-sized plastic cups. Due to the concern in the late 1990s about the risk of small children and seniors choking on the snacks, there have been subsequent recalls in the U.S. and Canada. Unlike gelatin, konjac gel does not dissolve readily in the mouth. The snacks usually have warning labels advising parents to make sure that their children chew the jelly thoroughly before swallowing.

The dried corm of the konjac plant contains around 40% glucomannan gum. This polysaccharide makes konjac jelly highly viscous. A corm is a short, vertical, swollen underground stem of a plant (usually one of the monocots) that serves as a storage organ to enable the plant to survive winter or other adverse conditions such as summer drought and heat (estivation). ... Glucomannan is a water-soluble dietary fiber comprising 40% by dry weight of the roots or corm of the konjac plant. ... Polysaccharides (sometimes called glycans) are relatively complex carbohydrates. ... The pitch drop experiment at the University of Queensland. ...

Konnyaku has almost no calories but is very high in fiber. Thus, it is often used as a diet food. Glucomannan, which is found in A. konjac, is the active ingredient in the dietary supplement Lipozene. However, recent research has shown that it is not as effective as it claims. Diet food (or dietetic food) refers to any food or drink whose recipe has been altered in some way to make it part of a body modification diet. ... Glucomannan is a water-soluble dietary fiber comprising 40% by dry weight of the roots or corm of the konjac plant. ... A prescribed dietary supplement is intended to supply nutrients (vitamins, minerals, fatty acids or amino acids) that are missing or not consumed in sufficient quantity in a persons diet. ... Lipozene a dietary supplement sold by a company called The Obesity Research Institute LLC. It is sold via television advertisements claiming to aid in weight loss. ...

Konjac powder was added to the first national currency of Japan in the late 1800s, to prevent counterfeiting, but it was stopped after rats began to eat the bills.

References

• Kaidō wo Iku, vol. 20: Chūgoku—Shoku to Unnan no Michi (On the Road, vol. 20: China—The Roads of Shu and Yunnan) by Ryotaro Shiba (1987), Chapter 3.

External links

• Multilingual taxonomic information from the University of Melbourne
• Japanese MAFF Genebank (with photographs)
• Japan Konnyaku Association (in Japanese)
• Science Channel's The Making Series: #147 Making of Konnyaku (video in Japanese)
• Tons of Konnyaku imported to Japan, broken down by producing country (in Japanese)