ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the origin and distribution, nutritional composition, medicinal values, climatic requirement, soil requirement, cultivated varieties and post-harvest management of celeriac. Celeriac is found growing wild in all temperate countries and is widely cultivated in Germany and other European countries, North America, North Africa and Southwest Asia. It is a moisture-loving plant, thus needs soils rich in organic matter and retentive to moisture. Celeriac roots and leaves are both eaten as a vegetable all over the world, however, it is mainly grown for its roots, which are eaten either raw as a salad or after cooking. The cultivated varieties of celeriac are Bergers White Ball, Snow White, Goliath Diamant, Anita, Dolvi and Ofir. Aphids, celery leaf miner, armyworm, slugs, root-knot nematode and pin nematodes are the insect pests that attack celeriac during growing season. Damping-off, fusarium wilt, root and crown rot, early blight, late blight, celeriac leaf spot, pink rot, and aster yellows are the diseases that attack celeriac.
