Detoxification of cassava leaves by simple traditional methods.
Cassava leaves, which usually contain large quantities of cyanogenic glycosides, were processed into a Zairian traditional vegetable sauce "Mpondu" by simple methods which included blanching (10 min), mashing and then boiling for 20-80 min. These methods enhanced the detoxification of the leaves, with blanching alone resulting in the loss of 57% of the free (non-glycosidic) cyanide content and of 60% of the bound (glycosidic) cyanide. It is presumed that losses of cyanide during these processes would be accounted for in volatile HCN, its derivatives and in the boiling water.
D003486:Cyanides / Q000032:analysis*; D005511:Food Handling / Q000379:methods*; D002365:Manihot / Q000032:analysis*
D003486:Cyanides