MORPHOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTIC OF SWORD BEAN (Canavalia gladiata (JACQ.) DC.: FABACEAE) AND ITS POTENCY AS FODDER

Abstrak

Indonesia has many tropical plants which could be developed as a forage or fodder, one of them is sword
bean (Canavalia gladiata (Jacq.) DC.). Sword bean is a legume plant that distributed in tropical region and
easily grow even in poor soil, but it also known as the under-utilization plant. Some researchers have done
analyzed the nutrient and anti-nutrient compounds in sword bean seeds, but there is lack of research that
studied the potencies of this legume plant as a fodder. To perform the further research development, it is
necessary to study the morphological characteristic of this plant to avoid taxonomic ambiguity. Therefore,
this study aims to know the morphological characteristics of sword bean and its potency to developed as
alternative fodder. The research was carried out during May 2019 to March 2020. The seeds began to sow in
May (as the 1
st
month) and characterized when there were pods that were ripe in March (the 10
month).
The vegetative phase lasts for 4-5 months before the plants start flowering. The generative phase varies in
duration, especially in pod maturation. Pod maturation lasts for 5-6 months, even more. The results showed
that sword beans (Canavalia gladiata) had attractive morphological characteristics on large leaf sizes,
fragrant white flowers, large pods, and bright red seeds. Sword bean leaves and seeds have the potential
to be developed as alternative fodder. The seeds contain various superior nutrient compounds as a fodder,
such as high content of protein, fiber, carbohydrate, and nitrogen free extract.
Keywords: Canavalia, fodder, sword jackbean, tropical forage