History and Lore

A member of the legume family (Fabaceae or Leguminosae), jicama is an herbaceous, climbing annual with a single thick, smooth or lobed edible tuber. The erect flower clusters develop edible pods, though only the young ones can be cooked and eaten, because once mature, the pods are poisonous. Researching this root by its botanical name clarifies the confusion caused by the same plant being labeled jicama in English-language texts on food plants and yam bean in books that focus on Asian food plants. Jicama grew wild in Mexico and Central America and was cultivated in ancient times by the Aztec and Maya. In the seventeenth century, the Spaniards introduced it to the Philippines, from which it spread farther into Asia and the Pacific and then to western Africa.