Canavalia gladiata
(sword bean)

Preferred Common Name

• sword bean

Other Scientific Names

• Canavalia foureiri G.Don
• Canavalia gladiolata J.D.Sauer
• Canavalia incurva (Thunb.) DC.
• Canavalia loureirii G.Don
• Canavalia lunareti Carriere
• Canavalia machaeroides (DC.) Steud.
• Canavalia maxima Thouars
• Dolichos gladiatus Jacq.
• Dolichos incurvus Thunb.
• Malocchia gladiata (Jacq.) Savi

International Common Names

• English: Japanese jackbean; sword jackbean
• Spanish: frijol de burro; frijol de playa ; haba de burro; poroto sable
• French: dolic en sabre; pois sabre; pois sabre rouge
• Chinese: dao dou
• Portuguese: feijão-de-porco; feijão-espada

Local Common Names

• Cambodia: tioeuhs
• Cuba: haba de caballo; frijol café; frijol de machete
• Dominican Republic: carabanz
• Germany: Schwertbohne
• India: chamma kaya; tamma; tammi kaya
• Indonesia: kacang parasman; kara pedang; koas bakol
• Laos: 'khao 'khièo; khùa
• Malaysia: kacang parang; kacang polong
• Philippines: habas; magtambokau
• Thailand: thua-phra
• Vietnam: dậu rựa

EPPO code

• CNAGL (Canavalia gladiata)

• Domain: Eukaryota
•     Kingdom: Plantae
•         Phylum: Spermatophyta
•             Subphylum: Angiospermae
•                 Class: Dicotyledonae
•                     Order: Fabales
•                         Family: Fabaceae
•                             Subfamily: Papilionoideae
•                                 Genus: Canavalia
•                                     Species: Canavalia gladiata

The genus Canavalia comprises approximately 60 species of lianas that are mostly distributed not only across tropical and subtropical America, but also in Asia and Africa. Taxonomic revisions have divided this genus into four subgenera (de Queiroz et al., 2015; Moteetee, 2016; Snak et al., 2016): Canavalia (including species with a pantropical distribution), Catodonia (including species with a neotropical distribution, excepting one species also found in the Old World), Maunaloa (including species occurring in Hawaii) and Wenderothia (including species with a neotropical distribution).

The following is based on descriptions by Moteetee (2016) and the Flora of China Editorial Committee (2019):

Vigorous woody perennial climber with twining stems, up to 10 m long; leaflets ovate or ovate-elliptic, acuminate at the apex, 80-200 × 75-150 mm, sparsely pubescent; petiole (50) 145-175 mm long; stipules ±2 mm long. Peduncles 100-300 mm long, with 8-10 flowers, flowers 25-30 mm long; bracteoles ±1 mm long. Calyx sparsely pubescent, upper lip large, 12-15 mm long, lower lip much smaller, 8-10 mm long. Corolla white or pink; standard broadly obovate, 25-35 × 15-20 mm, claw 3-4 mm long; wings oblong, 14-18 × 4-5 mm, smaller than keel, claw 3-5 mm long; keel obovate,16-22 × 6-8 mm, claw 3-5 mm long. Ovary narrowly oblong, 8-10 mm long. Pod linear-oblong, very large, slightly compressed, 160-400 (-600) × 35-50 mm, with two longitudinal ribs near the upper suture, 8-16-seeded; seeds very large, brick red, pink or reddish brown, with hilum extending most of the upper margin elliptic-oblong, ca. 3.5 × 2 cm; hilum ca. 1.5 cm.

Cultivars vary widely, particularly in the degree of twining, the size of the pods and the number and colour of the seeds. In some areas semi-erect forms are found. Forms with red or reddish to blackish seeds are sometimes classified as C. gladiata var. gladiata and forms with white seeds as var. alba (Makino) Hisauchi.

Soil drainage

• seasonally waterlogged

Soil reaction

• acid
• neutral

Soil texture

• heavy
• light
• medium

Special soil tolerances

• saline

Canavalia gladiata spreads by seed. Pods are dehiscent, opening readily when dry, releasing the seeds (PROTA, 2019).

The mature seed of C. gladiata contains alkaloids that maybe toxic to humans and animals. These toxic alkaloids can be destroyed by soaking and thoroughly boiling the seeds twice in water with salt or by fermentation (PROTA, 2019; Useful Tropical Plants, 2019).

• Proved invasive outside its native range
• Has a broad native range
• Abundant in its native range
• Highly adaptable to different environments
• Is a habitat generalist
• Tolerates, or benefits from, cultivation, browsing pressure, mutilation, fire etc
• Pioneering in disturbed areas
• Benefits from human association (i.e. it is a human commensal)
• Long lived
• Fast growing
• Has high reproductive potential
• Gregarious

• Negatively impacts agriculture
• Negatively impacts human health
• Negatively impacts animal health
• Reduced native biodiversity
• Threat to/ loss of native species

• Hybridization
• Poisoning
• Rapid growth

• Highly likely to be transported internationally deliberately

Canavalia gladiata is cultivated for its seeds and seed pods. The young green pods are extensively eaten across Asia and Africa served as a boiled green vegetable. Dry, fully mature seeds should be eaten with caution, as they may be poisonous. Detoxification is possible by changing the cooking water, soaking, rinsing or fermentation. The seeds are eaten in Ethiopia and Tanzania but usually only as a famine food. C. gladiata is also used as a cover crop and green manure. The seed is also used as forage and fodder to feed cattle and poultry, although dry seeds eaten in large quantities may cause poisoning. It is also grown as an ornamental climber on fences and houses.

Extracts from leaves and seeds are used in traditional medicine. In Korea, it is used in the treatment of vomiting, abdominal dropsy, kidney-related lumbago, asthma, obesity, stomach ache, dysentery, coughs, headache, intercostal neuralgia, epilepsy, schizophrenia, inflammatory diseases and swellings (Lim, 2012). In Japan, it is effective in treating haemorrhoids, pyorrhoea, otitis media, boils and cancers, all kinds of inflammatory diseases and atopic dermatitis. In Korea, a soap based on extracts of sword bean is used for the treatment of athlete’s foot and acne (Ekanayake et al., 1999; Kooi, 2016; PROTA, 2019; Useful Tropical Plants, 2019).