This is the 7301st most frequent Portuguese word.
mandioca
Cassava; a starchy root vegetable used as food.
Here, *mandioca* is used as a noun referring to the cassava plant and its edible root.
A mandioca é um alimento muito consumido no Brasil.
Cassava is a food widely consumed in Brazil.
In this case, *mandioca* is part of the phrase *farinha de mandioca*, denoting a product derived from cassava.
Ele usou farinha de mandioca na receita de pão.
He used cassava flour in the bread recipe.
Here, *mandioca* is again a noun referring to the prepared tuber as food.