Jerusalem Artichoke

Jerusalem artichoke is a member of Asteraceae family. Jerusalem artichokes are popularly known as sunchokes. Jerusalem artichoke is a perennial herbaceous plant. It grows up to a height of two to three meters.. Native to the central regions of North America, the plant can be grown successfully throughout the U.S. under a variety of temperature and rainfall regimes. Several North American Indian tribes used Jerusalem artichoke as food prior to the arrival of European settlers. The explorer Champlain took Jerusalem artichokes from North America to France in 1605. By the mid 1600s it was widely used as a human food and livestock feed there.