Cassava cake contains cyanide.
@Gorillafootprints925 (3586)
United States
July 25, 2010 5:28pm CST
I just made a cassava cake and it has that weird, bitter aftertaste not because its burnt but I think its the cyanide thing on the cassava itself. Ie. Is there a way get the cyanide away? or how can I remove the aftertaste? Is there another way to fix this problem? I don't want to throw it all away.
2 people like this
5 responses
@akiadranem (403)
• Philippines
26 Jul 10
Oh-kay, just how did cyanide get in the cassava in the first place? I really love eating cassava cakes from street vendors, now after what you said, that just put me off them. How did cyanide get there anyway?
@Gorillafootprints925 (3586)
• United States
26 Jul 10
It contains two cyanogenic glucosides which are linamarin and lotaustralin. These are decomposed by linamarase, a naturally occurring enzyme in cassava, liberating HCN or Hydrogen Cyanide. All cassava produces cyanide even the sweet ones. It is naturally occurring.
@akiadranem (403)
• Philippines
26 Jul 10
Oh, thanks for pointing that out. I thought it was because of pesticides or something. Well, then i think cassava should be in line with cooking fugu as it is poisonous when cooked or prepared the wrong way.
@Gorillafootprints925 (3586)
• United States
26 Jul 10
Yes, when I was a kid there was a news about cyanide poisoning from consuming cassava.
@headhunter525 (3548)
• India
3 Mar 13
Boil it and keep it in a not so thick basket for five hours. And in that five hours cyanide will decompose.
@Gorillafootprints925 (3586)
• United States
31 Jul 10
FYI, its not a cake mix. It is a cake you make from scratch. Cassava is the main ingredient and it has a naturally occurring cyanide in it. I did add vanilla extract as part of the recipe. It still tasted bitter.
@eichs1 (1934)
• Philippines
27 Jul 10
Cyanide is tasteless so that's not the problem with your cassava cake. The bitter taste is not from the peeling either. The bitter taste is natural to the cassava but is much pronounced in some variety and if newly harvested. Also, when cooked as it is (peeled then boiled), the bitterness is lost but if the cassava is processed (e.g. grated for pastries) the bitter taste will be noticed.
To do away with the bitter aftertaste, you can do two things:
1)Use three-day old harvested crops; or
2)Squeeze out the natural juice of the grated cassava before using it for cooking.
Sorry, I don't think there's a way to fix the problem for cooked cassava cakes. But try to use sweeteners or have a juice afterward to dissipate the aftertaste.
@Gorillafootprints925 (3586)
• United States
27 Jul 10
Thanks for the details. I just found out that only certain areas of the cake had an aftertaste. So some of it was good, it was just a matter of trial and error.
