Xanthosoma sagittifolium

Tannia, new cocoyam

The New World analogue of Colocasia, from which it can be distinguished by its darker leaves and its unjoined basal lobes. The trunk can be up to 1.5 m high and the leaves are large. It produces solid bulbs in the form of an underground stem. The roots can be fed cooked to animals, particularly pigs. Cattle, sheep and goats like the leaves, which are unusually nutritious for leaves of a root crop and compare favourably with good pasture.

					As % of dry matter
				DM	CP	CF	Ash	EE	NFE	Ca	P	Ref
Fresh leaves,
Trinidad				16.0	22.9	10.0	14.6	7.2	45.3	1.78	0.64	117
Fresh stems,
Trinidad				5.8	13.0	15.6	21.4	2.4	47.6			"
Fresh tubers,
Trinidad				31.5	6.9	2.6	4.2	0.2	86.1	0.19	0.20	"
Fresh tubers,
peeled, Trinidad				24.1	5.9	1.3	4.9	0.1	87.8			"
Fresh peelings,
Trinidad				29.5	8.2	11.4	8.5	1.3	70.6			"