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Designed for people who have no technical background or previous knowledge of the technologies, the titles in this series offer information on existing ways of improving the technology of food processing and increasing the quality and range of foodstuffs produced. While not providing instructions for actual processing, these source books are intended to increase awareness of the range of technological options and sources of expertise, indicate the complex nature of designing and successfully implementing technology projects and diffusion programmes, and provide material for those training in this area. The series has been prepared by the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) and Intermediate Technology, in recognition of women's special roles in these processes. This book focuses on root crop processing. Root crops are a cheap, readily available and essential food in many poor communities and are so often the main part of a meal, particularly where cereals are unavailable. In most countries, the family meals are usually prepared by women, and local processing of root crops is often an important part of women's daily work. This book covers the most common methods of processing potato, cassava, sweet potato, yam and edible aroid crops. Particular emphasis is placed on cassava which often requires special treatment to make it fit for human consumption. Included are basic food science principles, traditional and improved small-scale processing methods, case studies illustrating the benefits and difficulties of introducing improves technologies, and sources of further information.
