Root vegetables are plants grown for their roots. Usually they are edible as a whole, but the root is the most tasty part. There are several kins of root vegetables, like carrots, parsnips, turnips, etc. They differ not only by taste, but also by the type of the root. The types of roots are: true roots such as tap roots and tuberous roots and non-roots or modified stems like tubers, rhizomes, bulbs, and corms.

The purpose of the overgrown root is to store energy for the plant in the form of carbohydrates, mainly starches and sugars. They also contain many vitamins and minerals and are a staple food in many countries.

True root vegetables

Taproot vegetables:

The taproot is a strait, downward growing root. There is usually one, large center root with small thin roots sprouting from it. The common taproot vegetables are: carrots, beets, celery root (celeriac), turnip, rutabaga, radish, and many more.

Tuberous root vegetables:

The tuberous root is an enlarged root that works as a storage organ to the plant. the enlargement can be formed at the end of the root, in the middle, or involve the whole root. Sweet potato is a well known tuberous root vegetable, but also there is manioc, which is used for making tapioka flour.

Non-root vegetables

Corm:

A corm is a short, swollen underground plant stem, that is used by some plants to survive different adverse conditions such as summer drought or winter freeze. A corm is divided into several parts, called internodes and is protected by dried leaves that look like papery skins. Corms are often confused with bulbs because of their look, however they are part of the plant's stem, while bulbs are made of modified plant leaves. True roots grow from the bottom of the corm. Chinese water chestnut is a vegetable grown for its corms.

Rhizomes:

Rhizomes are horizontal stems of plants rather than roots that grow underground. Ginger, ginseng, arrowroot (used to make flour) are some of the vegetables with edible rhizomes.

Tuber:

Tubers are various plant structures modified to store nutrients. There are stem tubers and root tubers (which were covered earlier). Stem tubers form from thick rhizomes or stolons. They are usually short lived, provide nutrition to the plant and often work as seeds, where new plants sprout from the tubers the following year. One plant can produce several tubers, or one large tuber and a few smaller ones. The most well known vegetables with stem tubers are potatoes and Jerusalem artichokes.

Bulbs:

Bulbs are also not true roots, but rather modified leaves of the plant. Since they are made of leaves, bulbs consist of many layers. That's what makes them different from other root vegetables. Onions, leeks, shallots all are bulb vegetables.

Root vegetables are grown for their starchy texture, nutritional value. They are a great source of carbohydrates. They are virtually fat free, are filling, have a great taste, and are easy to grow in a home garden.

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