The prime material to make cassava (jatropha manihot) flour is a plant from the Euphorobiacea family, a well-known and widely cultivated tuber used by Indians in alimental products, as the Portuguese found on their arrival to Brazil.

When peeled, the latter were white as Mani. With this, the Indians thanked Tupã, and since then have not stopped planting and eating from that root, giving it the name Mani-oca, which means ‘house of Mani’. Through the elaboration of beijus and cauim – a popular drink among them.

Cassava or manioc (Manihot esculenta) is a starch-producing plant of the euphorbiaceae family, originating in the Brazilian Guiana (northern Amazonas and Pará), in the south of the three Guianas (British, Dutch and French), in the south of Bahia and in the northeast of Minas Gerais.