Processing of cassava roots to remove cyanogens

Processing methods used to produce farinha in Brazil and gari in West Africa reduce the total cyanide content to less than one eighth of that using heap fermentation and less than one sixteenth of that using sun drying. Heap fermentation and sun drying, commonly used in eastern and southern Africa, do not adequately remove cyanide in a normal year and are hopelessly inadequate when used on cassava grown during drought. New and greatly improved processing methods are urgently needed. The high levels of cyanide intake in central, eastern and southern Africa from high cyanide flour are the most likely cause of konzo in young people and the very long term consumption of gari of lower cyanide content in West Africa is the most likely cause of TAN in older people.