REVIEW RELATED LITERATURE

Botanical name: Xanthosoma sagittifolium (L.) Schott

Family: Araceae

Common names. English: tannia, tania; yautia, new cocoyam tanier; Spanish:
yautfa, malanga (Antilles), macal (Mexico [Yucatán]), quiscamote (Honduras),
tiquisque (Costa Rica), ot6 (Panama), okumo (Venezuela), uncucha (Peru), gualuza
(Bolivia), malangay (Colombia); Portuguese: taioba, mangareto, mangarito,
mangarás (Brazil); French: chou Caribe (Antilles); other languages: queiquexque
(Mexico), tannia, taniera (Antilles)

The tannia has traditionally been a subsistence crop and any produce which
is not consumed by producers' families goes to the market. This explains its
marginalization because, even though it is a staple for millions of people in the
tropics, little inforination is available on its cultivation and requirements.

As in the case of other neglected crops, there have been very few efforts to
industrialize and diversify the product. In Puerto Rico, tests have begun with very
satisfactory results for making crisps using instant dehydration and tannia flour.
Considering that a very varied industrial production has been built up using tannia, it
may be predicted that, with the application of technology, tannia can be used to
make a series of industrial products similar to those obtained from the cocoyam or
taro.

Production in the family or commercial undertaking must be considered in the

context of the production of other energy foods in the same region: cassava, potato,
sweet potato and yam. On most of the Latin American markets, the tannia is valued
as a superior species because of its flavour and texture. Surveys carried out in
Puerto Rico show that the rural population prefers the tannia to the sweet potato,
yam and green plantain because of its flavour and that, in the Philippines, it is
preferred to the cocoyam or taro. Production does not meet demand: in Venezuela in
1970, 56 305 tonnes were marketed, a figure which is below potential consumption
levels.
 The future of the tannia, a food of exceptional value because of its
organoleptic characteristics and nutritional properties, lies in a widening of export
markets, the application of technology to diversify its use and the promotion of more
intensive consumption in people's diets in tropical regions.

Bermejo, J.E. & Leon, J. 1994. Neglected Crops: 1492 from a different
perspective. FAO Series, No. 26.

TANNIA (Xanthosoma sagittifolium)

Known as:

~ dryland taro or talo futuna in Tonga,

~ tarua in Cook Islands,

~ talo palagi in Samoa,

~ taro Fiji in Vanuatu,

~ singapo or taro kongkong in PNG,

~ te tannia in Kiribati.

Description: This crop is considered easy to grow and produces a relatively high
yield within 6 to 12 months after planting. It is often grown in Melanesia, where both
its pointed leaves and roots are eaten, but is not particularly suited to sandy, infertile
atoll soils. Tannia was brought to the Pacific about 100 years ago and is resistant to
many of the pests and diseases that affect Colocasia taro. It is also much more
tolerant of drought than common taro with the added advantage that, once
harvested, the root may be stored in a cool, dry place for several months.

Crop requirements: This crop is considered an upland taro species and grows best
in areas receiving between 1 500 to 2 000 mm of rainfall per year, although it can be
grown in areas with rainfall as low as 1 000 mm/year. The plant roots within 15-20
cm of the soil surface and requires well-drained and relatively fertile growing
conditions. It is not well suited to planting on sandy, nutrient-deficient atoll soils but
can be grown where these soils have been amended with organic materials. It is not
considered salt tolerant.
PACIFIC FOOD SECURITY TOOLKIT. Building resilience to climate change -
root crop and fishery production. Pacific Root Crop. Module 4. pp 72-73.

Aroid is the common name for members of the Araceae family of plants. The

Araceae are a family of herbaceous monocots with 125 genera and about 3750

species including the Lemnaceae. Araceae remains one of the most poorly known

families of plants to science with large percentages still new. Members of the family

are highly diverse in life forms, leaf morphology, and inflorescence characteristics.

(Boyce, P. C. & Croat, T. B. 2011)

Boyce, P. C. & Croat, T.B. 2011. The Uberlist of Araceae, Totals for Published
and Estimated Number of Species in Aroid Genera.
www.aroid.org/general/
140313uberlist.pdf as of March 24, 2014

Tannia, also known as new cocoyam, is an important tuberous vegetable

cultivated for its edible tubers and tender leaves. The starchy tubers occupy an
important place in the diet of people in many tropical countries. The main corms
(mother corm) are very acrid and so only the cormels (side corms) are eaten. The
subterranean cormels, used as high-energy food, contains 17-26 % carbohydrate,
1.3-3.7% protein and 65-77% water and have nutritional value comparable to potato
(Onwueme and Charles, 1994; Agueguia, 2000).

Onwueme,I.C. and Charles,W.B. 1994. Tropical Root and Tuber Crops –

Production, Perspectives and Future Prospects, FAO production and
protection paper. 126. Rome. pp.139-161.

Agueguia A. 2000. Importance and uses of cocoyam in Cameroonian diets. In :

Potential of Root crops for Food and Industrial Resources. Makoto Nakatani
and Katsumi Komaki. (ed), Twelfth Symp. Int. Soc Trop. Root Crops ISTRC,
September 10-16, 2000, Tsukuba, Japan, p. 512-514.
 Tannia (Xanthosoma sagittifolium (L.) Schott) is the sixth most important root
and tuber crops of the world next to cassava, potato, sweet potato, yam and taro in
planted area and production (Perez, 2009)

Perez, P.J., 2009. Cocoyam. In: Quality Declared Planting Material: Protocols
and Standards for Vegetatively Propagated Crops, Fajardo, J. (Ed.). Food and
Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Rome, Italy, pp: 41-48.

Tannia is a herbaceous perennial plant but for production purposes, it is

harvested after 9-12 months of growth (Lebot, 2009)

Lebot, V., 2009. Aroids In:Tropical Root and Tuber Crops: Cassava, Sweet
Potato, Yams and Aroids, Lebot, V. (Ed.). CAB International, UK., ISBN: 97818
45934248,pp:279-355.

The major aroids are composed of taro (Colocasia esculenta (L.) Schott),
Xanthosoma species and swamp taro (Cyrtosperma merkusii (Hassk.) Schott) grown
for its corm and leaves (Jackson, 2008). There are two main species of Xanthosoma,
namely X. sagittifolium (L.) Schott and X. violaceum Schoott. On the other hand,
Cyrtosperma merkusii is the only edible form in its genus. Only the corms are eaten
while the leaves can be used as medicine or woven as mats. The major aroids
received relatively little attention from the international agricultural research
community and is frequently referred to as an ‘orphan’ crop. (Rao R.V et al,. 2010)

Rao V., Matthews Peter J., Eyzaguirre Pablo B., Hunter D. 2010. The Global
Diversity of Taro: Ethnobotany and Conservation. Bioversity International,
Rome, Italy.

Cocoyam (Xanthosoma sagittifolium (L.) Schott) or commonly known as

yautia is one of the tuberous root crops in the Araceae family that has been grown in
Ethiopia. It has spread widely and has become an important part of the agriculture
and food systems of indigenous communities in southern and southwestern Ethiopia.
However, less research attention has been given to cocoyam. It is a
neglected/underutilized or ignored crop.

Wada, E., Asfaw, Z., Feyissa T., and Tesfaye, K. 2017. Farmers’ perception of
agromorphological traits and uses of cocoyam (Xanthosoma sagittifolium (L.)
Schott) grown in Ethiopia. Academic Journals. Vol. 12. pp 2681-2691
 Root and tuber crops are collective terms for plants that are grown for their
modified, thickened roots or stems which generally develop underground. Special
terms for specific types are root crops for modified roots, tuber crops and corm crops
for modified stems (Bareja, 2010).

Bareja, B. G. 2010. Root Crops, Tuber Crops and Corm Crops Distinguished,
List ofExamples. http://www.cropsreview.com/root-crops.html. Accessed
April 18, 2016

There are seven kinds of roots and tubers namely, cassava, sweetpotato,
potato, greater yam (ubi), taro (gabi), tannia (galiang/pao) and lesser yam (tugui)
included in the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) records (PSA, 2013).

Philippine Statistics Authority. 2013 and 2014. Agricultural Accounts and

Statistical Indicators Division. Email: info@bas.gov.ph

Tannia are plants of tropical rain forest region which require copious rainfall
and adequate soil moisture (Lopez et al., 1995). Tannia can be grown under upland
conditions with irrigation and certain early maturing cultivars can be grown without
irrigation in comparatively dry situations.

López, M., Vásquez, E. and López, F. 1995. Raícesy tubérculos. Pueblo

Educacion, Universidad Central de Las Villas, Cuba, pp. 312.

Only three varieties of yautia are knowm to constitute this particular aroid
species in the Philippines- green, violet, and yellow. These three are considered as
polymorphic varieties of X. sagittifolium. However, the reports of Kay (1973) and
Plucknett (1970) considered them as different species with the green form as X.
sagittifoliium, the violet, X. violaceum and the yellow, X. atrovirens. No genetic
variations have been observed so far in each of these forms that will suggest the
existence of certain varieties under any of them. Irrespective of the variety or form
yautia is popularly known as yautia, takudo, pakudo, butig, istaring, karlang, and
lutya.

Kay, D.E. 1973. Root crops. Tropical Prodcuts Institute, London. 245 pp.

Plucknett, D.L. 1970. Colocasia, Xanthosoma, Alocasia, Cyrtosperma and

Amorphophallus. In: Tropical Root and tuber Crops Tomorrow. Pp. 127-135
 Kay (1987) states that there is considerable variation in the composition of
tannias and starch contents of 17–34.5% have been reported. About 10 kg of tannia
corm yields 3 kg of flour. Tannia has larger starch grains (average diameter of 17–20
microns) that are less easily digested than Colocasia taro starch grains. However
tannia starch is as palatable as cassava flour and more nutritious. Noodles made
from mixes of soy, wheat, and tannia flours have been made experimentally.

Kay, D.E. 1987. Root Crops. Second Edition (revised by E.G.B. Gooding). Crop
and Product Digest No. 2. Tropical Development and Research Institute,
London.

Haddock and Hernandez (1952) state that tannia, particularly the yellow
types, are more nutritious than taro and Irish potatoes, but less nutritious than
sweetpotatoes, plantains, and pumpkins.

Haddock, D., and L. Hernandez. 1952. Consumer preferences for taniers

(Xanthosoma spp.) in Puerto Rico, 1949– 1950. Bull. 103, Univ. of Puerto Rico
Agr. Exp. Sta., Rio Piedras.

Mealybugs, which are injurious on tuber crops, also infest Xanthosoma

sagittifolium, although mainly cassava, taro, yam, sweet potato, elephant foot yam,
and yam bean are much more affected. (Mani et al. 2016). On the other hand,
Coleson and Miller (2005) found out that X. sagittifolium consistently exhibited strong
aphid resistance (antixenosis), specifically on Aphis gosyphii than in taro (Colocasia
esculenta).

Mani, M., Kalyanasundaram, M., Jayaprakas, C.A., Harish, E.R., Sreerag, R.S.
and M. Nedunchezhiyan. 2016. Tuber Crops. Chapter 54: 471-494. Mealybugs
and their management in agricultural and horticultural crops. Springer India.

Coleson, J. L. and R.H. Miller. 2005. Antibiosis and antixenosis to Aphis

gossypii (Homoptera: Aphididae) in Colocasia esculenta. J Econ Entomol.
98(3): 996-1006

According to Bown (2000) there are two main species, X. sagittifolium and X.
violaceum. This division into species is based on the colour of the corm, cormels and
leaves and on the shape of the cormels. The foliage of X. violaceum is purple-
flushed and the corms and cormels are purple-grey with reddish eyes and purple,
red, pink, yellow or white flesh. X. sagittifolium has green leaves and the corms and
cormels have white, yellow or pink flesh and pale brown skin. The shape of the
cormels from X sagittifolium is globose, and for X violaceum ovate-elliptic.

Bown, D. 2000. Aroids. Plants of the Arum Family. 2nd Edition. Timber Press.
Portland, Oregon, USA. 392 pp.

Tannia (Xanthosoma sagittifolium) is an edible root crop grown in the tropics

and sub tropics. It belongs to the family Araceae. Tannia corms are recognized as a
cheaper carbohydrate source than grains or other tuber crops. Moreover, it also
contains good amounts of B-complex vitamins, potassium and zinc. The flour from
Tannia has been used in baking of products as it has been reported that it has fine
granule starch, which improves binding and reduces breakage of snack products.
Tannia is considered as a food having low glycemic index (Folasire et al., 2016)

Folasire, O. L., Oridupa, O. A., Owolabi, A. J., and Adepoju, O. T. (2016). Anti-
hyperglycemic effect of cocoyam (Xanthosoma sagittifollium) corm in alloxan-
induced diabetic albino rats. Int. J. Nutri. Metabolism. 8(4): 24-29.

Consumer demand in the field of food production has changed considerably in

the last decades. Today foods are intended not only to satisfy hunger and to provide
necessary nutrients for humans but also to prevent nutrition-related diseases and
overall health of the consumers. In this regard, functional foods play an outstanding
role. Functional foods are rapidly increasing in popularity in dairy and confectionery
sectors; but in bakery industry, it is still relatively underdeveloped. Bakery products
however provide ideal matrix by which functionality can be delivered to the consumer
in an acceptable level. In developing functional bakery products, it is important to
realize that achieving functional food quality does not simply involve delivering the
active principle at the appropriate level for physiological effectiveness, but also
supplying a product which meets the consumer’s requirements in terms of
appearance, taste and texture (Siro et al., 2008)

Siro, I. N., Kapolna, E., Kapolna, B., and Lugasi, A. (2008). Functional food.
Product Development, marketing and consumer acceptance-A review.
Appetite 51: 456–467.

Cookies are popular snacks, widely consumed all over the world by people of
all ages. Traditionally baked products are made from refined wheat flour and addition
of other flours or starches can give special flavour and structural properties. The
main drawback of baked products is their high trans fat content due to the use of
hydrogenated fat in their preparation. There is an increased demand for healthy,
natural and functional baked products and attempts are being made to improve their
nutritive value and functionality by modifying the ingredients used in their
preparation. Under exploited tubers can become a potential alternative in wheat
based baked products, which can thus add value to the crop and at the same time
enhance its economic potential.

Rekha, B. A and Suman, K. T. (2018). International Journal of Applied and Pure

Science and Agriculture (IJAPSA). Volume 04, Issue 9.

The research finding depicted that underexploited tubers can be used

effectively in the preparation of cookies along with functional ingredients. Around 20
% of replacement of tannia flour along with 2% addition of wheat bran and 6 % of
both flax seed and garden seed in 1:1 had higher organoleptic scores. The result
showed that physical qualities like hardness decreased across the storage period but
wide variation was not noticed in diameter and thickness, weight of the cookies
slightly increased due to moisture absorption during storage. The tuber flour tannia
and functional ingredients used in the study can be utilized effectively to substitute
wheat flour in the preparation of cookies. The sensory qualities increased during
storage period. Use of refined soyabean oil and sorbitol was found to be compatible
for cookie preparation.

https://ijapsa.com/published-papers/volume-4/issue-9/physical-and-sensory-
qualities-of-tannia-xanthosoma-sagittifolium-flour-based-enriched-cookies.pdf
"Yautia" or gabi chips processing in Barangay Anilao, Liloan, Southern Leyte
has given rise to a new breed of institutional partnership that combines methods of
testing in community engagement with the principle of convergence.

In addition, the yautia chips processing intervention improved the community

leadership and management which are required by the process for increasing the
productivity and profitability in the product. At the same time, it enhanced the existing
monitoring and evaluation system using participatory and conventional approaches
necessary to identify the gains in the partnership. The efforts of the government
organizations and the local processors assured the proper application of the CI&I
approach to technological exchange and the provision of support services especially
at the time that the yautia chips were gaining popularity in the market. It was also
useful in soliciting additional funds for commercialization and business ventures.

In the process of implementation of the intervention, it was found that, to

further sustain the public-private partnership under local conditions, the
implementers should focus on iterative cyclical processes of the processing
enterprise and business activities such as situation analysis, action implementation,
performance assessment, and information sharing by all key players and
stakeholders.

https://www.bar.gov.ph/index.php/digest-home/digest-archives/127-2009-3rd-
quarter/1396-julsep09-autia-chips-processing-5

Sakwa is a by-product of Gabing San Fernando (Yautia spp). The plant

thrives best in deep, loose, friable, and sandy loam soil with abundant organic matter
and moisture. It has been found to be well-adapted in plateaus where cogon grows
and can tolerate shaded conditions. The crop is resistant to adverse climatic
conditions and is relatively resistant to drought, and pest and disease incidences
compared to that regular gabi. Farmers use sakwa as feeds for swine, particularly at
the finishing stage. The sliced sakwa and the leaves are usually given fresh or boiled
with feed concentrates.

https://www.bar.gov.ph/index.php/digest-home/digest-archives/107-2011-2nd-
quarter/416-aprjun2011-native-lechon-7