6 Adzuki bean

The adzuki bean is a small bean that is cultivated annually throughout East Asia for its small bean. They’re mostly red in color but are also available in a variety of colors like white, black, and gray. The beans are used in several dishes and have multiple health benefits like weight loss and improving digestion.

Just like other kinds of beans, the adzuki beans are one of the species of leguminous plants. There are at least 60 kinds of beans, and they are cultivated in more than 30 countries. They are native to East Asia, especially, China.

In Asian cultures, adzuki beans are sweetened before eating. They are usually boiled with sugar and then made into a red paste, which is used in several cuisines. The beans are also consumed sprouted or boiled in a hot, tea-like drink.

Eating adzuki beans has wide-ranging health benefits. It has the perfect amount of antioxidants that help in anti-aging and fighting against diseases. Researches have made it clear that the beans contain 29 different kinds of antioxidants which make them one of the most antioxidant-rich foods available.

They’re also rich in soluble fiber and resistant starch, which helps in improving digestion and gut health. (1, 2, 3)

7 Yacon

Grown in the northern and central Andes, the yacon is species of perennial daisy that is crisp, sweet in taste, and has tuberous roots. It was unknown outside the Andes until the 2000s, but now it’s widely cultivated and consumed for its antihyperglycemic properties. It looks like a sweet potato but is completely different in taste, texture, and nutrient composition.

The yacon plant is scientifically known as Smallanthus sonchifolius. The root vegetable comes in a creamy white-yellow color and has a unique taste that resembles an apple, watermelon, and celery combined. It is eaten raw and contains zero starch and has been cultivated in South America for centuries.

Yacon root is used in several cultures, but it was introduced in different countries at different times. The list goes like this: New Zealand, Japan, Czech Republic, South Korea, and Brazil, and lastly, the US has also started to see the vegetable’s health benefits. 

After the water has been evaporated from the root, what’s left is just thick, dark, and sweet syrup. It is consumed for its nutritional as well as medicinal qualities. It is used for diabetes, weight control, and inflammation. (1, 2)

8 African cabbage

Africa cabbage is one of the species of Cleome that is used as a green vegetable. The annual wildflower is native to Africa, but it also grows in several tropical and sub-tropical parts of the world. The edible parts of the plant are its flowers and leaves that taste strongly bitter, sometimes peppery like mustard greens.

The chinsaga or the Shona cabbage is a staple crop in Kenya and famine food in many other places. However, it is also sometimes considered an invasive weed in many cultures. It grows naturally along the roads, fallow fields, fences, irrigation canals, and ditches.

The vegetable is nutrient-rich since it has amino acids, vitamins, 4% protein antioxidants, and minerals. The leaves and flowers of the chinsaga plant are a significant part of the South African people’s diet.

The leaves can be consumed raw but are generally cooked before eating. Sometimes it is cooked into soups after washing and chopping, as couscous, or as pickles.

The leaves of chinsaga vegetables have antioxidative properties, therefore they are used as a medicinal herb to cure people with inflammatory diseases. Even the roots of this plant are used to treat fever and its juice is used to treat scorpion stings. (1, 2)

9 Yam

Known as “yam” in New Zealand, these are the tubers of a perennial herbaceous plant that is used as a root vegetable. The plant was cultivated first in the central and southern Andes region for its tuber and was later introduced to the outside world. Its cultivation started in Europe in 1830 as a competitor to potatoes and in New Zealand in 1860 where it is used as a table vegetable.

Also known as “oca,” it shares a similar developmental history to other tuber vegetables like potato, ulluco, and mashua. This root vegetable is narrow in shape and long, up to four inches in length.

There is a variety of colors in which the oca tuber is available, but the most common ones are available in red, yellow, and orange. They also generally have contrasting eyes on their bodies. Even the taste of cooked oca tuber varies vividly.

Some of the boiled tubers taste from mild to acidic and a bit sweet to starchy. In comparison to potatoes, oca is softer after boiling, is more summer-heat tolerant, and generally more disease resistant.

However, the nutrient qualities of this root vegetable greatly resemble the potato, which too is equally rich in carbohydrates, and fibers with half as much protein. (1, 2)

10 Ulluco

Second, only to the potato, the ulluco is a genus of a plant that is the most widely cultivated and economically important root crop in the Andes region, South America. The root of the plant is consumed as a root vegetable, and its leaves are also used as spinach. Before the arrival of the European settlement in South America, the plant was used by the Inca people.

The tuber of ulluco is available in several colors like yellow, orange, purple, red, green, or white and sometimes with spots in the body. They taste like a combination of potato and beet but are much firmer than the texture of the potato.

Besides the root part, the plant is also cultivated for its leaves that are cooked and used like spinach. The plant is very sensitive to diseases caused by viruses, and its true seeds are also rare to find. Therefore, the plant is propagated annually using the tubers.

In South America, the tubers of ulluco are generally used just like potatoes are used. There is also a dish called “chino” in the Andes region that is prepared by alternately freezing and drying the tubers. (1, 2, 3)