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Chenopodium pallidicaule

Common name:	Cañihua	Family:	Chenopodiaceae
Author:	Aellen.	Botanical references:
Synonyms:
Known Hazards:	The leaves and seeds of all members of this genus are more or less edible. However, many of the species in this genus contain saponins, though usually in quantities too small to do any harm. Although toxic, saponins are poorly absorbed by the body and most pass straight through without any problem. They are also broken down to a large extent in the cooking process. Saponins are found in many foods, such as some beans. Saponins are much more toxic to some creatures, such as fish, and hunting tribes have traditionally put large quantities of them in streams, lakes etc in order to stupefy or kill the fish[K]. The plants also contain some oxalic acid, which in large quantities can lock up some of the nutrients in the food. However, even considering this, they are very nutritious vegetables in reasonable quantities. Cooking the plants will reduce their content of oxalic acid. People with a tendency to rheumatism, arthritis, gout, kidney stones or hyperacidity should take especial caution if including this plant in their diet since it can aggravate their condition[238].
Range:	S. America - Andes.
Habitat:	A common weed of cultivated ground, especially on rich soils, it grows in areas where frosts can occur in 9 months of the year, including during the growing season[196].
Edibility Rating (1-5):	3	Medicinal Rating (1-5):	0

Other Common Names:	From various places around the Web, may not be correct. See below.
	Canihua [P],
Systematics:	From a USDA Plants Database
	Order: Caryophyllales. Goosefoot family
Other Range Info:	From the Ethnobotany Database
	Bolivia; Peru

Physical Characteristics

Annual growing to 0.6m. It is not frost tender. It is in flower from July to October, and the seeds ripen from August to October. The flowers are hermaphrodite (have both male and female organs) and are pollinated by Wind. The plant is self-fertile. We rate it 3/5 for edibility and 0/5 for medicinal use.

The plant prefers light (sandy), medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils. The plant prefers acid, neutral and basic (alkaline) soils and can grow in very acid, very alkaline and saline soils. It cannot grow in the shade. It requires dry or moist soil and can tolerate drought. The plant can tolerates strong winds but not maritime exposure.

Habitats and Possible Locations

Cultivated Beds.

Edible Uses

Drink; Leaves; Seed.

Leaves - cooked and used like spinach[196]. The raw leaves should only be eaten in small quantities, see the notes above on toxicity. Young leaves contain up to 30% protein (dry weight)[196].
Seed - cooked[57, 61, 97, 105, 177]. It can be toasted and ground into a nutty tasting powder that can be used as a breakfast cereal. It can also be used to make biscuits, mixed with flour it is used to make bread and a hot beverage similar to hot chocolate can also be made from it[183, 196]. Very small, about 1mm in diameter, but abundantly produced[196]. The seed contains little or no saponins and so can be used without pre-treatment[196]. The seed is extremely nutritious, it contains about 16% of a high quality protein (it is notably rich in lysine, isoleucine and tryptophan), almost 60% carbohydrate and 8% fat[196].

Medicinal Uses

Disclaimer

None known

Other Uses

Dye.

Gold/green dyes can be obtained from the whole plant[168].

Cultivation details

Succeeds on most soils, including shallow soils, but dislikes shade[196, 200]. Prefers a moderately fertile soil[200]. Once the plant is about 5cm tall it is very drought tolerant[196]. The plant has short stout stems and resists wind and heavy rain[196]. It is also more resistant than barley or quinoa to low night temperatures[196]. Plants do not like excess humidity[196]. They tolerate a pH in the range from 4.8 to 8.5 and shows some salt tolerance[196].
Adult plants are unaffected by night frosts in the growing season, the seed can germinate at a soil temperature of 5°c, whilst the plant will flower at 10°c and ripen its seed at 15°c[196].
Cañihua was once often cultivated for its edible seed in S. America[183], though it is seldom grown now[264]. There are some named varieties[61, 196]. The seed is somewhat laborious to harvest and dehusk, it is enveloped in a papery husk and this is removed by soaking in water and then rubbing[196]. Most varieties take about 150 days from seed sowing to harvest, but at least one quick-maturing type can be harvested in 95 days[196]. Yields of 2.4 tonnes per hectare are average, but twice this has been recorded[196].
Plants seem to be quite resistant to most pests and diseases[196].
The flowers are closed at fertility and so seem to be almost exclusively self-pollinating[196]. Plants are day-length neutral and have matured crops as far north as latitude 64°north in Finland[196].
Although used in much the same way, this species is not very closely related to quinoa, C. quinoa[196].

Propagation

Seed - sow spring in situ. Most of the seed usually germinates within a few days of sowing.

Cultivars

'': No entries have been made for this species as yet.

Suppliers

For more details of plant suppliers please see our Suppliers Page which lists many more places to look.

Web References

[H] Details of Scandanavian and European Common names in Henriette's names database
[E] Ethnobotany Data (common names, uses, countries) from the Ethnobotany Database.
[G] Data (Common Names, Uses, Distribution) from the USDA/ARS NPGS's GRIN taxonomic database.
[P] Data. (uses, distribution, wetland) from the USDA'a Plants database.
[HP] Links, Photos, Suppliers from Hortiplex Plant Database

References for the family Chenopodiaceae.

[CHINA] Draft Data Very detailed botanical/identification info. from the Flora of China.

See the PFAF Links Pages for other sources.

Also try Photos and info from the The Plants Database which has 14,000 images.

References

[K] Ken Fern
Notes from observations, tasting etc at Plants For A Future and on field trips.

[57] Schery. R. W. Plants for Man.
Fairly readable but not very comprehensive. Deals with plants from around the world.

[61] Usher. G. A Dictionary of Plants Used by Man. Constable 1974 ISBN 0094579202
Forget the sexist title, this is one of the best books on the subject. Lists a very extensive range of useful plants from around the world with very brief details of the uses. Not for the casual reader.

[97] Towle. M. A. The Ethno-Botany of Pre-Columbian Peru.
A very interesting book covering quite a lot of information on plant uses in S. America although many of the plants are not suitable for temperate areas..

[105] Tanaka. T. Tanaka's Cyclopaedia of Edible Plants of the World. Keigaku Publishing 1976
The most comprehensive guide to edible plants I've come across. Only the briefest entry for each species, though, and some of the entries are more than a little dubious. Not for the casual reader.

[168] Grae. I. Nature's Colors - Dyes from Plants. MacMillan Publishing Co. New York. 1974 ISBN 0-02-544950-8
A very good and readable book on dyeing.

[177] Kunkel. G. Plants for Human Consumption. Koeltz Scientific Books 1984 ISBN 3874292169
An excellent book for the dedicated. A comprehensive listing of latin names with a brief list of edible parts.

[183] Facciola. S. Cornucopia - A Source Book of Edible Plants. Kampong Publications 1990 ISBN 0-9628087-0-9
Excellent. Contains a very wide range of conventional and unconventional food plants (including tropical) and where they can be obtained (mainly N. American nurseries but also research institutes and a lot of other nurseries from around the world.

[196] Popenoe. H. et al Lost Crops of the Incas National Academy Press 1990 ISBN 0-309-04264-X
An excellent book. Very readable, with lots of information and good pictures of some lesser known food plants of S. America.

[200] Huxley. A. The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. MacMillan Press 1992 ISBN 0-333-47494-5
Excellent and very comprehensive, though it contains a number of silly mistakes. Readable yet also very detailed.

[238] Bown. D. Encyclopaedia of Herbs and their Uses. Dorling Kindersley, London. 1995 ISBN 0-7513-020-31
A very well presented and informative book on herbs from around the globe. Plenty in it for both the casual reader and the serious student. Just one main quibble is the silly way of having two separate entries for each plant.

[264] Phillips. R. & Rix. M. Vegetables Macmillan Reference Books, London. 1995 ISBN 0 333 62640 0
Excellent and easily read book with good information and an excellent collection of photos of vegetables from around the world, including many unusual species.

Readers Comments

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Plant information taken from the Plants For A Future - Species Database. Copyright (c) 1997-2003.
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