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Chenopodium pallidicaule
Also called Kañiwa
Canihua is a small, annual pseudocereal from the Andean highlands of Peru and Bolivia, grown mainly for its seeds and edible leaves. It is a close relative of quinoa and is hardy at high altitude, so it is grown much like other drought-tolerant Andean crops.
Chenopodium pallidicaule, known as cañihua, canihua or cañahua (from Quechua 'qañiwa, qañawa or qañawi') and also kañiwa or kaniwa, is a species of goosefoot, similar in character and uses to the closely related quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa).
Cañihua is native to the Andean region, with more than 200 varieties, and it has been farmed in the Altiplano for millennia. It is high in protein and dietary fiber, with rich phenolic content.
Cañihua is a half-domesticated plant from the highlands of Bolivia and Peru, cultivated as a pseudocereal crop for its seeds. Both the seeds and leaves are edible.
The plant was often cultivated in South America in the past. More than 200 varieties are known in Bolivia, but only twenty are still in use, with a majority of farmers cultivating just one.
Cañihua can easily be milled to flour and can be prepared further as a toasted cañihua flour called cañihuaco. Cañihuaco has a nutty taste and can be mixed with water and milk for a breakfast meal. Since it is rich in calories and proteins, local people take it on long travels. Additionally, cañihua flour can be used for a lot of other purposes such as bread-making, pastry-making and noodle-making. Some varieties of cañihua can even be included in sweets, snacks and weaning food mixtures.
Fat-hen · Pitseed goosefoot · Figleaf goosefoot · Fremont's goosefoot · Tree Spinach · Narrowleaf goosefoot · Pitseed Goosefoot · Desert goosefoot · Quinoa · Striped Goosefoot · Stinking goosefoot · Goosefoot
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Chenopodium pallidicaule by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
