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Xanthosoma sagittifolium
Also called New Cocoyam, Callaloo, Tania, Tannia, White Malanga
Xanthosoma sagittifolium, known as tannia or new cocoyam, is a tropical aroid grown mainly for its starchy edible corm, a staple for hundreds of millions of people. It needs warm, humid, frost-free conditions and rich, moist soil.
Xanthosoma sagittifolium, or tannia, is a tropical flowering plant from the family Araceae. It produces an edible, starchy corm. X. sagittifolium is native to tropical America where it has been first cultivated. Around the 19th century, the plant spread to Southeast Asia and Africa and has been cultivated there ever since. X. sagittifolium is often confused with the related plant Colocasia esculenta (taro), which is similar both in appearance and its uses. Both plants are often collectively named 'cocoyam'.
Tannia is among the world’s most important tuber crops and feeds 400 million people worldwide. There are multiple varieties, the two most common being the red flesh and the white flesh variety. They were selectively bred to improve pest and disease resistance, to shorten the time it takes to reach maturity and to improve the cooking quality.
Tannia is an important source of starch in many African countries such as Ethiopia. Its tubers contain approximately 85% carbohydrates in dry matter. Furthermore, the protein content amounts to 10% – a benefit for the resource-poor farmers by whom Tannia is mainly consumed. The plant is also rich in vitamin A and vitamin C and a good source of potassium, calcium and other minerals.
Tahitian spinach · Yautia horqueta · Xanthosoma paradoxum · Elephant's ear
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Xanthosoma sagittifolium 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.
