ISHS Acta Horticulturae 275: International Symposium on the Culture of Subtropical and Tropical Fruits and Crops
CULTIVATION AND PROCESSING OF EDIBLE CANNA IN SUBTROPICAL TAIWAN |
| Authors: | K.L. Lai, Y.Z. Tsai |
| Abstract:
The botanical characteristics, cultivation and starch processing of edible canna in subtropical Taiwan were studied. The results obtained are summarized as follows. The farmers in Nantou County of Taiwan have cultivated a kind of starch crop commonly called "Lotus tuber" for many years. The tubers were harvested and sold to the starch processing factories for extracting and refining a high quality starch. This kind of starch was used mainly for raw material by the bakeries and Chinese noodle (bean noodle) processor to manufacture some high quality biscuits or chinese noodle. Our survey made on the botanical characteristics of this crop have shown that the so called "Lotus tuber" belongs to one cultivar of edible canna with scientific name Canna edulis Ker., which has been cultivated by ancient Peru Indians since ca. 4000 years' ago. Further studies indicated that the cultivar used by the farmers of Nantou belongs to a quite new variety, not yet reported before in other cultivated areas in the world. From the viewpoint of high tuber yield per unit area and excellent quality starch contained therein, this kind of edible canna was considered to have high potential as an economic plant. | |
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