MANILA, Philippines – Cultivated in tropical countries and endemic in the Southeast Asia-Pacific region, canna is a flowering herb that grows up to 2.5 meters in height.
Abundantly growing throughout the Philippines, canna is popularly known as Bandera Española (Spanish flag) due to the vibrant red and yellow colors of its flowers. Most often, it is used as an ornamental plant – either as a potted indoor plant or landscape plant.
Many of its parts are found useful in a variety of ways. For instance, young shoots can be eaten as vegetables while its leaves and rhizomes are utilized as animal feed, fodder, and forage for cattle and swine.
Canna leaves and stems, when burned, are used in pest management.
Seeds are formed into beads and made into accessories, or as part of percussion instruments such as rattles. In traditional medicine, its rhizome extracts are believed to be an effective remedy for headaches, diarrhea, nose bleeding and as a diuretic.
While canna is mostly recognized for its aesthetic value, it also produces rhizomes underground, which when processed, are turned into edible starch and flour. In Vietnam, it is used in making noodles.
Seeing the potential of canna thriving in the country as a possible source of flour, the Crop Science Cluster of UPLB’s College of Agriculture explored its uses.
Funded by the Bureau of Agricultural Research (BAR), the project sought to increase public awareness on some of the endemic and indigenous plants that can be found in the region and promote them as potential sources of food and non-food products.
As a component of the project, collected wild species of canna in some areas in Laguna, Batangas, and Rizal were propagated.
These were further cultivated for field reproduction and were harvested five months after planting. The rhizomes were processed into flour and subjected for food composition analysis.
A proximate analysis of canna flour as compared to other flours including cassava, wheat, in making bread was conducted.
Initial results showed the canna flour contains relatively higher amount of carbohydrates and crude fiber content.
The processed canna flour is being evaluated as a raw material in making pastries such as cookies.