Capparis retusa
Griseb.
Sacha bean
gbif· cc-by
Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
gbif· cc-by-nc-sa
MBG
gbif· cc-by-nc-sa
MBG
Description
A shrub. The leaves are broadly oval. The pods are enlarged around the seeds. The pods can be red inside with pale green seeds.
This description is brief — help expand it
Edible Uses
The very bitter fruit and seeds are prepared by boiling (changing the water and boiling again), sometimes after being baked and dried, and are typically eaten with fish.
Traditional Uses
The fruit are very bitter. The fruits either fresh or dried are boiled and the water changed before boiling again then eaten with fish. They are baked before drying but then still boiled.
Medicinal Uses
Used as a traditional food preparation in South American cuisine.
Distribution
It is a subtropical plant.
Where It Grows
Argentina, Paraguay, South America,
Other Information
The fruit are commonly eaten in Paraguay.
Synonyms
Also Known As
Antawa, Indio kumanda, Ohnayik
References (3)
- Arenas, P. and Scarpa, G. F., 2006, Edible wild plants of the Chorote Indians, Gran Chaco, Argentina. Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society. Vol. 153 (1): pp 73-85
- Polini, G., et al, Useful and edible plants of Paraguay Region of Chaco. p 54
- Scarpa, G. F., 2009, Wild food plants used by the indigenous peoples of South American Gran Chaco: A general synopsis and intercultural comparison. Journal of Applied Botany and Food Quality 83:90-101
