Tag: Cooking yucca

Worldwide, over 800 million people consume yuca, yet eating the raw root can be dangerously toxic. The answer to 'Can you eat raw yucca root?' is a definitive no, due to the presence of naturally occurring cyanogenic glycosides that can release lethal hydrogen cyanide.

While often confused with the starchy tropical root *yuca*, various parts of the native North American *yucca* plant have been a traditional food source for centuries. But is the chaparral yucca plant edible, and what crucial precautions should foragers take?