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Ullucus tuberosus

Common name:	Olluco	Family:	Basellaceae
Author:	Caldas.	Botanical references:	200
Synonyms:
Known Hazards:	None known
Range:	S. America - Peru, Bolivia.
Habitat:	Not known
Edibility Rating (1-5):	3	Medicinal Rating (1-5):	0

Other Possible Synonyms:	From various places across the web, may not be correct. See below.
	Basella tuberosa[G] Melloca peruviana[G] Melloca tuberosa[G] U. kunthii[G]
Other Common Names:	From various places around the Web, may not be correct. See below.
	Ulluco [E,P],
Epithets:	From a Dictionary of Botanical Epithets
	tuberosus = tuberous;
Systematics:	From a USDA Plants Database
	Order: Caryophyllales. Basella family
Other Range Info:	From the Ethnobotany Database
	Peru

Physical Characteristics

Perennial growing to 0.3m. It is hardy to zone 9 and is frost tender. The flowers are hermaphrodite (have both male and female organs). We rate it 3/5 for edibility and 0/5 for medicinal use.

The plant prefers light (sandy) and medium (loamy) soils and can grow in nutritionally poor soil. The plant prefers acid, neutral and basic (alkaline) soils. It cannot grow in the shade. It requires moist soil and can tolerate drought.

Habitats and Possible Locations

Cultivated Beds.

Edible Uses

Leaves; Root.

Tuber - cooked[61, 196]. Starchy and mucilaginous[1, 2, 22, 27, 34]. The tubers can be up to 8cm long[K]. Ulluco is a staple food in South America, being used in most of the ways that potatoes are used, indeed when boiled and fried they taste very much like potatoes[183]. In the Andes a popular dish called 'chuño' is made by alternately freezing and drying the tubers[183]. The tubers contain about 14% carbohydrate, 1 - 2% protein, almost no fat or fibre[196]. They are fairly rich in vitamin C, about 23mg per 100g fresh weight[196]. The tubers store well and will last up to 12 months in cool conditions[196].
Leaves - raw or cooked[22, 183, 196]. Mucilaginous and not that exciting[K]. They contain about 12% protein dry weight[196].

Medicinal Uses

Disclaimer

None known

Other Uses

None known

Cultivation details

Prefers a rich light soil with plenty of leaf mould[27, 34, 200]. Produces reasonable yields in marginal soils[196]. Established plants are moderately drought tolerant[196]. Prefers a pH in the range 5.5 to 6.5[196].
Ulluco is often cultivated for its edible tubers in S. America[183, 196], it has been tried, unsuccessfully, as a potato substitute in Britain[1]. It is about as hardy as the potato plant in Britain, the foliage withstanding light frosts and the tubers tolerating colder conditions[K]. One report says that plants are very frost-resistant[171] but that has not been our experience[K]. The tubers are not formed until late in the season so a mild autumn is required for good yields. The tubers are formed at the roots and also from shoots growing out of the leaf axils and into the soil[K]. Earthing up the stems as tubers form in late summer can improve yields[196]. Average yields are 5 - 9 tonnes per hectare but there is a lot of potential to increase this[196]
Slugs are very fond of this plant and will soon completely destroy it if given a chance[K].
Plants do not usually produce fertile seed but researchers in Finland have obtained seed under controlled circumstances[196].

Propagation

Seed - we have no information on this species but, if you can get hold of any seed, apart from letting us have some you could try sowing it in a warm greenhouse in early spring. Prick out the seedlings into individual pots as soon as they are large enough to handle and either grow them on in pots in the greenhouse for their first year, or plant them out into the soil in the greenhouse.
Division of tubers in the late autumn. Harvest them once the top growth has been killed by autumn frosts and store them in a cool but frost-free place over winter. Plant them out in April.
Cuttings in summer. Very easy[K]. The stem only needs one leaf node to enable it to root [196].

Cultivars

'': No entries have been made for this species as yet.

Suppliers

For more details of plant suppliers please see our Suppliers Page which lists many more places to look.

Web References

Latin and Worldwide Common Names From Multilingual Multiscript Plant Name Database by M. H. Porcher et. al. 1995 - 2000 Landcare Systems Research Laboratory, Department of Crop Production,Institute of Land and Food Resources, The University of Melbourne, Australia.
[E] Ethnobotany Data (common names, uses, countries) from the Ethnobotany Database.
[PHARM] Phytochemical Data (common names, uses, countries) from Dr Duke's Phytochemical Database.
[G] Data (Common Names, Uses, Distribution) from the USDA/ARS NPGS's GRIN taxonomic database.
[G] Data (Common Names, Uses, Distribution) from the USDA/ARS NPGS's GRIN taxonomic database.
[P] Data. (uses, distribution, wetland) from the USDA'a Plants database.
[HP] Links, Photos, Suppliers from Hortiplex Plant Database

References for the family Basellaceae.

[CHINA] Draft Data Very detailed botanical/identification info. from the Flora of China.

See the PFAF Links Pages for other sources.

Also try Photos and info from the The Plants Database which has 14,000 images.

References

[K] Ken Fern
Notes from observations, tasting etc at Plants For A Future and on field trips.

[1] F. Chittendon. RHS Dictionary of Plants plus Supplement. 1956 Oxford University Press 1951
Comprehensive listing of species and how to grow them. Somewhat outdated, it has been replaces in 1992 by a new dictionary (see [200]).

[2] Hedrick. U. P. Sturtevant's Edible Plants of the World. Dover Publications 1972 ISBN 0-486-20459-6
Lots of entries, quite a lot of information in most entries and references.

[22] Sholto-Douglas. J. Alternative Foods.
Not very comprehensive, it seems more or less like a copy of earlier writings with little added.

[27] Vilmorin. A. The Vegetable Garden. Ten Speed Press ISBN 0-89815-041-8
A reprint of a nineteenth century classic, giving details of vegetable varieties. Not really that informative though.

[34] Harrison. S. Wallis. M. Masefield. G. The Oxford Book of Food Plants. Oxford University Press 1975
Good drawings of some of the more common food plants from around the world. Not much information though.

[61] Usher. G. A Dictionary of Plants Used by Man. Constable 1974 ISBN 0094579202
Forget the sexist title, this is one of the best books on the subject. Lists a very extensive range of useful plants from around the world with very brief details of the uses. Not for the casual reader.

[171] Hill. A. F. Economic Botany. The Maple Press 1952
Not very comprehensive, but it is quite readable and goes into some a bit of detail about the plants it does cover.

[183] Facciola. S. Cornucopia - A Source Book of Edible Plants. Kampong Publications 1990 ISBN 0-9628087-0-9
Excellent. Contains a very wide range of conventional and unconventional food plants (including tropical) and where they can be obtained (mainly N. American nurseries but also research institutes and a lot of other nurseries from around the world.

[196] Popenoe. H. et al Lost Crops of the Incas National Academy Press 1990 ISBN 0-309-04264-X
An excellent book. Very readable, with lots of information and good pictures of some lesser known food plants of S. America.

[200] Huxley. A. The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. MacMillan Press 1992 ISBN 0-333-47494-5
Excellent and very comprehensive, though it contains a number of silly mistakes. Readable yet also very detailed.

Readers Comments

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Bibliography

Plant information taken from the Plants For A Future - Species Database. Copyright (c) 1997-2003.
WEB search engine by Rich Morris - Home Page- Contact Info
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