Talk:Yam (vegetable)

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Contents 1 to eat yam 2 Total rewrite of article 3 Page split 4 Purple cake 5 Yam or Cassava? 6 Yam in Nigeria 6.1 Color of Yam Flesh

[edit] to eat yam

The article says: 'The word yam comes from Portuguese inhame or Spanish ñame, which both ultimately derive from the Wolof word nyami, meaning "to eat".'

I suspect that it is the other way around. The Wolof's word for "to eat" coming from the word for "yam". For instance the Japanese word for food comes from their word for rice.Steve Dufour 17:53, 26 July 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Total rewrite of article

I know this is not supposed to be what happens here....However I would like to totally rewrite the article. I will not do it unless I get some support here telling me that it is ok to at least try and see how people like it. Thanks. Steve Dufour 05:34, 1 September 2006 (UTC)

I changed my mind. What I will do is add some more info here and there as is normal here on Wikipedia. Steve Dufour 13:49, 2 September 2006 (UTC)

I'd agree, it needs a heavy re-write, in conjunction with splitting the page (as per below) - MPF 16:19, 5 December 2006 (UTC)

I do think it needs a lot of work. I would like to know more about the soils and climates it grows well in.Saritamackita 21:51, 26 January 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Page split

The genus scientific name Dioscorea currently redirects here; however, not all of the c.600 Dioscorea species are yams, only some. I propose splitting out the botanical information on the genus as a whole to a separate Dioscorea page, while retaining the food crop aspects of the handful of edible species on the Yam (vegetable) page - MPF 16:19, 5 December 2006 (UTC)

Please go ahead and do that. Steve Dufour 16:50, 5 December 2006 (UTC)

Done - MPF 19:27, 8 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Purple cake

Why is the cake in Image:Ube_Cake.jpg purple? Njál 17:16, 18 July 2007 (UTC)

See Ube Nil Einne 19:29, 23 September 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Yam or Cassava?

The artilce mentions that "...various natural substances in raw yams can cause illness if consumed; the most common cooking method in Western and Central Africa is fufu. Preparing some species of yam is a time-consuming process, involving days of pounding, leaching, and boiling to remove the toxins." This information is incorrect. Yam does nto require this sort of detailied processing to be safe to eat. This activity is more applicable to Cassava which is deadly inless so processed. This section should be removed or rewritten. Ajisekanla (talk) 16:07, 14 December 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Yam in Nigeria

There is minimal reference to the significance of Yam in Nigerian culture and society. Besides being the largest producer and consumer of this tuber, it is instrumental to certain cultures here - Igbos for instance celebrate the New Yam festival every year. Ajisekanla (talk) 16:12, 14 December 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Color of Yam Flesh

The article says that the flesh "ranges in color from white to bright orange in ripe yams". I added a citation needed tag because to my knowledge yam flesh can be white, yellow, purple, or pink, but not bright orange. Maybe someone can check this out with some good sources. 74.236.139.62 (talk) 16:11, 23 January 2008 (UTC)

I don't think so, "orange flesh" sounds more like some sweet potatoe species, but some botanists could probably answer to that question better than me. Nevers (talk) 17:46, 23 January 2008 (UTC)