Canavalia ensiformis is the jackbean which is used for animal fodder and originates from Brazil. It is a small shrub, when not handled properly can cause toxic results in humans.
The leaves are recommended to eat only when just shoots. But in Haiti this plant is primarily used for burns or skin irritation. The burns only applicable to the body’s surface and plant not to be used when burns are in sensitive areas such as the genitals.
The nutrient breakdown of the jackbean is : proteins: 22.5%; greases: 2.1%; carbohydrates: 63.8%; fibers: 27.4%; ashen: 11.6%.
The Jackbean although commonly used for animal fodder has some healing effects primarily concerned with burns but even then it is not widely used. In the novel, Macandal concentrates on plants that are a part of everyday life, the ones that are not noticed but must have some type of health effect as he discovers, “His hand gathered anonymous seeds, sulphury capers, diminutive peppers; vines that wove nets among the stones” (18).
farmers in Indonesia are also growing canavalia ensiformis, please visit http://youtube.com/user/koropedang
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