1st Yacon Flower (+ Health Benefits Of Yacon)

I had never expected it to happen, but today I spotted the very first Yacon flower. Those tiny flowers appear at the end of the growing season.

Yacon flower

Sunflower Cousin

The Yacon (also known as Peruvian Ground Apple) is a relative to the sunflower and the Jerusalem Artichoke. There's no obvious sign of this, until at the end of the season the plant starts growing little yellow flowers.

Since the plant can grow to be 2 meters in height, and the flower is really tiny, it's also known as 'the big plant with the tiny flower'.

I grow mine in containers, so they never grow that big, which allows me to actually séé the small flowers when they appear at the top of the plant.

Yacon Tubers Are So Delicious

These beautiful little flowers announce the end of the gardening season here in Belgium.

Still, some time will go by before I can harvest those edible tubers that are so juicy, taste like apple and are just incredibly delicious. I can't start digging before the plant has been hit by the first frost. Apparently, exposure to this first frost increases the sweetness of the tuber.

Healthy

The edible tubers of the Yacon are not only delicious, they are also very healthy.

The root exists mainly out of water and a form of glucose that prevents the sugars to enter the bloodstream rapidly. Eating Yacon tubers fills you up, but since they are very low in calories it can help you lose weight.

Other possible health benefits are: