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he Jerusalem artichoke was sold to Midwestern farmers as a crop that thrives in dry soil conditions and could be used to make ethanol and for use in food products. The farmers initially grew it for seed to get the crop established. But the businessmen who were behind the effort turned out to be shady and eventually ended up in court, farmers already stricken by drought conditions were left with a crop they couldn’t sell and “Jerusalem artichoke” became a dirty word. The scandal is detailed in a book called “The Great Jerusalem Artichoke Circus: The Buying and Selling of the Rural American Dream” written by Joseph A. Amato and published by the University of Minnesota Press in 1993. The scandal involving Jerusalem artichokes doesn’t faze Larry Whetstone, who, for the past 10 years, has been sending out information about its potential as a biobutanol feedstock and its health benefits, in an effort to get it established in North America. As the owner of Canuk Sales, an organic food ingredient company, he is particularly interested in the inulin or prebiotic soluble fiber produced by the tubers. “The opportunities for gut health are huge,” Whetstone says. “The prebiotics feed the gut microflora of any single-stomach animal, whether it’s an oyster, shrimp, chicken, pig, horse or a human. The probiotic thing has been pushed by major companies such as Dannon and anybody making probiotics are doing a big business now because they’ve indoctrinated mainly women to get their tummies in shape, and it’s their digestive gut that’s what they have to shape up.” New research from the Stanford University School of Medicine and Stanford Hospital and Clinics also suggests that probiotics can enhance weight-loss programs. “Probiotics are bacteria that help maintain the natural balance of organisms (microflora) in the intestines,” according to WebMD. “The normal human digestive tract contains about 400 types of probiotic bacteria that reduce the growth of harmful bacteria and promote a healthy digestive system.” The Web site describes prebiotics as “nondigestible ingredients in foods that are used to spur the growth of probiotic bacteria in the body.” Most of the probiotics used today come from the inulin extracted from chickory roots that are mostly grown in Europe. Jerusalem artichokes are also produced in Europe as well as in China and south Asia. “It took over eight years in Canada before they allowed the inulin to be called a soluble fiber,” Whetstone says. “If you start to look at labels on cereal boxes you’re going to see lots of soluble fiber inulin addition. It’s also in breads, cookies and dog food in particular. Animals improve when eating it because they have the same gut as we do.” Whetstone says that inulin added to milk helps the body absorb more minerals, calcium and iron, which is beneficial for people who suffer from osteoporosis and for children. “I don’t understand how so much of it can be used in North America and it’s all being imported,” he says. While people such
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The Jerusalem artichoke (Helianthus tuberosus), also referred to as sunroot or sunchoke, is a sunflower species native to the U.S.
as Whetstone believe in the benefits of probiotics, which can range from helping in the treatment of hay fever, preventing asthma, reducing infections in athletes, reducing kidney stones and improving infant immune functions, there are some researchers who think more research needs to be done to determine its heath benefits.
Livestock Feed Market While Whetstone is particularly interested in the Jerusalem artichoke’s human health benefits, John Timmons, a hog producer in Moberly, Mo., believes its greatest potential is for livestock feed. Timmons is growing plots of the crop and says he can easily produce 50 tons of the bulk tubers per acre, which would yield 8 to 10 tons of dry matter per acre. “The production rate in this area is just absolutely incredible … you are going to have a higher production rate than corn or