Jerusalem artichoke, topinambour Plant (Helianthus tuberosus)
This plant gets its name Topinambour from the Native American tribe who made use of it calledthe "tupinambá" who once lived along the Brazilian coast.
It is both a nice ornamental garden (reaching up to 3 m), one of its most popular features is its rhizomes is that it is consumed as food. The tubers can be eaten raw or cooked a little or cooked. In some countries they are used as livestock feed.
The Jerusalem artichoke is particularly interesting for diabetics because its tubers stored inulin rather than starch. Inulin is a carbohydrate that becomes fructose during cooking. Tubers in a diet help by reducing hunger. More recently it has been suggested that some of its components is have anti-cancer properties.
Due to the rapid growth and its use for the production of biomass topinambour can also be an interesting plant for the area of bioenergy.
The rhizomes have a limited life because they dry out quickly. Something to be taken into account when harvesting.