Aroid starches
- Subject: Aroid starches
- From: B* D* H*
- Date: Wed, 29 May 2002 10:49:09 -0500 (CDT)
- Content-class: urn:content-classes:message
Dear Aroid lovers,
I am an archaeologist working in the UK at the University of Leicester. I am researching the use of aroids and other tuberous species in Sarawak, Malaysia. The deposits I am looking at range from 50,000 years old through to the last 2,000 years and many of them contain preserved starch grains. I have been building a reference collection of material here at the University but am still lacking some important aroids and other species. Can anyone help me? I have provided a list of some of the plants of interest. All I require is a small section of the tuber or rhizome. e.g. a piece of tissue about 3cm by 2cm is all that I need to extract starches and keep in alcohol as reference material.
>From the reference material I can compare the starches with those fround in the archaeological deposits and, potentially, identify the family or even species of plant used in prehistory.
Cheers,
Huw
ARACEAE
Schismatoglottis calyptrata
Cyrtosperma merkusii
TACCACEAE
Tacca leontopetaloides
ZINGIBERACEAE
Curcuma xanthorrhiza
Curcuma zeodara
CYPERACEAE
Cyperus esculentus
Cyperus rotundus
Eleocharis dulcis
EUPHORBIACEAE
Manihot esculenta
MARANTACEAE
Maranta arundinacea
Dr Huw J Barton
Postdoctoral Research Fellow
School of Archaeology and Ancient History
University of Leicester
University Road
Leicester LE1 7RH
hjb15@le.ac.uk
(w) +44 (0)116 252 2793
