Canavalia ensiformis

Jack bean, sword bean

Fast-growing, usually erect, sometimes shrubby twining annual up to l m high, with runners occasionally extending to 10 m. Deep rooted and drought resistant. The seeds are edible but somewhat toxic if consumed in large quantities. Mostly used for human food or green manure, but in some countries cultivated under irrigation as fodder. The forage is palatable only when dried. Due to toxicity, caution is required in feeding herbage and pods of jack bean, and seed meals must be limited to a maximum of 30% of the total feed for cattle. Heat-treated seeds and pods are harmless. Raw jack beans cannot be included in rations containing urea, as they contain urease, which rapidly releases ammonia from urea.

As % of dry matter

DM

CP

CF

Ash

EE

NFE

Ca

P

Ref

Fresh aerial part,

Hawaii

23.2

22.5

27.4

11.6

2.1

36.4

245

Seeds

86.7

36.3

9.9

2.9

2.5

48.4

0.19

0.27

44

Seeds, Zimbabwe

91.1

33.9

11.2

3.1

2.2

49.6

0.10

0.37

143

Pod husk, Ghana

4.5

48.1

3.8

1.5

42.1

0.30

0.01

294

Digestibility (%)

Animal

CP

CF

EE

NFE

ME

Ref

Seeds

Sheep

80.5

72.9

72.1

99.1

3.40

44

Amino acid composition as % of crude protein

Seed

Ref

137

Arg

Cys

Gly

Hys

Ils

Leu

Lys

Met

Phe

Thr

Try

Tyr

Val

8.0

0.6

4.5

3.5

-

10.2

5.1

-

5.3

4.2

0.8

3.0

4.4