Yacon production steps

Cultivation / Harvest

Our Yacon comes from a small family farm in the Peruvian Andes, which is certificated for organic cultivation and Fair Trade. The region is called Oxapampa and is located in a height of 1800 m. Here our Yacon can grow under the cool and clean mountain air.

The pharmacist, Dr. Garro, a pioneer in Andes botany and the doctorate biologist, C. Samaniego, belong to the staff of our Peruvian supplier. Based on their profound know-how, 20 years experience and their passion for research we are able to guarantee continuously high quality. Our supplier has managed to optimize criteria like time of harvest, gentle production methods, storage conditions and permanent quality control.

Climate and soil in Oxapampa allow an all-year cultivation of the Yacon root. After a growth period of 8-9 months the plant contains its highest possible amount of fructooligosaccharides (FOS) and thus the perfect time for harvest. The freshly harvested roots are weighed directly on the field, packed into baskets and labelled with all important facts of their history.

Production

First the Yacon roots are selected manually, cleaned with water in special washing-drums and disinfected with a biodegradable lemon extract. Then the roots are peeled manually, what is really hard work, and sliced. After that they are gently dried for about 8 hours on special trays in an oven at 45 °C. High priority is given to the preservation of valuable ingredients and preventing the roots from mould, thus it is very important to keep a constant temperature and to reduce moisture to at most 12 %.

On store is only raw material. Each customer order is produced after order entry to guarantee the freshness of the product.

Control

Having passed a microbiological analysis (including all prior analyses) the product is ready for shipment.

The farm of our Peruvian supplier is Fair Trade certificated.