Taro is a perennial herb of Araceae, which is often cultivated as an annual crop. Taro was first produced in China, Malaysia and the hot and humid swamps of Indian Peninsula, and is widely cultivated all over the world. China is rich in taro resources, mainly distributed in the Pearl River, Yangtze River and Huaihe River basins.

Taro is an important vegetable and food crop. The starch granules of taro are as small as110 of potato starch, and the digestibility can reach over 98%, so it is known as "Xian Di". Besides starch, taro can also be used to make vinegar and wine.

Types of taro

Multi-headed taro: the mother taro is clustered with tillers, and there are few children taro, which is cultivated in mountainous areas of Taiwan Province Province; The dogclaw taro in Yishan, Guangxi belongs to this category. Features: the plant is short, one plant is leafy, and there are many taro under it, which are connected together; It is powdered and tastes like chestnuts.

Dakui taro: the mother taro is single or few, fat and delicious, with few seeds, tall plants, strong tillering ability and few seeds, but the mother taro is very developed, delicious in powder and high in yield. Such as betel nut, bamboo taro, red betel nut, betel nut taro, noodle taro, red taro, yellow taro, glutinous rice taro and fire taro, are commonly found in tropical areas such as Taiwan Province Province, Fujian Province and Guangdong Province.

Multi-seed taro: there are many seed taro, and the mother taro is rich in fiber, which is not delicious. This kind of taro has strong tillering ability, and the daughter taro is spindle-shaped with thin tail, which is easy to separate from the mother taro. The purpose of cultivation is to harvest the daughter taro. Most of the cultivators in north-central China belong to this category. For example, early-born white taro in Taiwan Province Province, white-stalked taro in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, and yellow-powdered taro in Cixi, Zhejiang Province. Red-topped taro, black-footed taro from Zhejiang and black persimmon taro from Taiwan Province Province also belong to this category.