Chapter II

Review Related Literature

This chapter will present a review of related

literature of Taro flour as new substance in making

Pandesal. The research will delve into the various

aspects that make the producing as an effective tool for

transferring knowledge.

Taro

According to Kathleen M. Zelman 2022, Taro root is a

vegetable used in a variety of cuisines around the world.

It has a mind, nutty taste, starchy texture, and

nutrition benefits that make it a healthier alternative

to other root vegetables like potatoes. Taro is commonly

added to savory dishes or fried as snack, but it can also

add a creaminess and purple color to sweet recipes. As

one of the world’s oldest cultivated plant, taro

something goes by different names including arbi,

dasheen, and eddoe. Different varieties can be used

interchangeably and bring the same nutritional benefits

to Your meal. Taro is rich in nutrients that can provide

important health benefits. A one-cup serving has a third

of your daily recommended intake of manganese, which

contributes to good metabolism, bone health, and blood

clotting. Its high levels of vitamins can also promote

healthy vision, skin, circulation, and immune system

function. Taro root has more than twice as much fiber as

potatoes. Dietary fiber improves digestive function and

can relieve issues like constipation, diarrhea, stomach,

ulcers, and acid reflux.

According to Erica Julson 2023, Taro root tastes

midly sweet and is and chock-full of nutrients. You can

find fiber, potassium, magnesium, and many other vitamins

and minerals in this vegetable. It has a brown outer skin

and white flesh with purple specks throughout. When

cooked, it has a midly sweet taste and a texture similar

to potato. Taro root is a great source of fiber and other

nutrients and offer a variety of potential health

benefits, including improved blood sugar management, gut

and heart health.

According to Int J Mol Sci 2021, Even though taro

corm (or taro) is a rich source of heath-promoting

compounds, this crop, as well as tubercle consumption

worldwide, is highly neglected probably because it is

mainly associated with subsistence agriculture. Moreover,

due to poorness, unsustainable farming practices, and

climate change, taro crops face many challenges in

several underdeveloped countries, such as African Sub-

Saharan nations and other countries in Central and South

America.

According to Rachael Link 2023, Taro root is a

tropical root vegetable that is featured in cuisines

around the globe. In addition to providing dishes with a

pop of color, it also brings a host of important

nutrients to the table, including fiber, manganese and

vitamin E. It has edible leaves and a starchy corn, which

can be found in a range of different colors depending on

where it’s grown, including purple, pink or white. It’s

often compared to other starchy vegetables and herbs,

such as konjac root.

4According to Genetic Improvement of Vegetable

Crops, 1993 Taro, Colocasia esculent Schott, Araceae, is

one of the edible aroids distributed throughout the

world, particularly in the tropics. Although cultivated

as an annual, taro is a perennial herb with a thick,

tuberous underground stem whose leaves are simple, broad,

and long-petioled. Unopened leaves and petioles are

prepared like spinach and used as a vegetable, while

the tubers can be steamed or boiled as a delicacy. Taro

has a higher nutritive value than most other root

and tuber crops. Both corms and leaves contain good-

quality protein and are good sources of phosphorus,

potassium, calcium, and readily available iron. The corms

also have very fine-grained, easily digestible starch, a

rich ash content and can be a fair source of oils. There

are possibly thousands of recognized cultivars of taro

that fall into two groups: the “eddoe” type and the

“dasheen” type (Colocasia esculenta var. esculenta). Both

the types are widely grown in both flooded and upland

culture. Despite its tremendous potential, research into

the biology and genetics of Colocasia spp. appears to be

rudimentary. Little attention has been paid to this plant

by breeders, with the result that in most cultures taro

still occupies subsistence crop status. As with most

other food crops, the aims of taro breeding include and

place emphasis on higher yields, resistance to major

diseases (leaf blight and corm rot) and pests

(leafhopper), short crop duration, superior food value

and general acceptance, low or no acridity, adaptability

to harsh environmental conditions—drought, salinity, and

flooding limits—and amenability to mechanization. This

chapter provides an overview of taro breeding and

genetics, with an application of biotechnology and

specialized breeding techniques.

5 According to Taro (Colocasia esculenta), also called

eddo or dasheen, is a tropical plant native to Southeast

Asia that produces a starchy root vegetable with a brown

outer skin and a white flesh with purple specks. Although

commonly referred to as "taro root," the vegetable is

technically not a root but a corm, or underground stem.

Taro leaves and corms are toxic if eaten raw due to high

levels of calcium oxalate, but can be safely eaten once

cooked.

Flour

According to Amy Halloran 2019, flour is a powder

ground from grains — typically wheat. To get a bit
more, ahem, granular, when we talk about grains, we’re
usually talking about the edible seeds harvested from
cereal plants. And these seeds have three parts: the
bran, the germ, and the endosperm. The bran protects the
seed until it is ready to grow. The germ is where growth
begins, and the endosperm stores the stuff that a plant
uses as food. White flour is made from the endosperm only
— the bran and germ are sifted off and become different
products — while whole-wheat flour is most often made by
recombining the endosperm with the germ and the bran once
the germ is stabilized. The germ and the bran contain
fats that spoil quickly, which is why whole-grain flours
have a shorter shelf life.