''Dioscorea hispida'', also known as the Indian three-leaved yam, (Tagalog: nami, Indonesia: gadung) is a species of yam in the genus ''

Dioscorea ''Dioscorea'' is a genus of over 600 species of flowering plants in the family Dioscoreaceae, native throughout the tropical and warm temperate regions of the world. The vast majority of the species are tropical, with only a few species extendin ...

'', native to South and Southeast Asia. Known to be poisonous when fresh, careful processing is required to render it edible.

Culinary use

Several peoples use the tuber as food. The tuber is toxic when fresh due to the presence of

saponins Saponins (Latin ''sapon'', 'soap' + ''-in'', 'one of') are bitter-tasting, usually toxic plant-derived secondary metabolites. They are Organic compound, organic chemicals that become foamy when agitated in water and have high Molar mass, molecul ...

and

calcium oxalate Calcium oxalate (in archaic terminology, oxalate of lime) is a calcium salt of oxalic acid with the chemical formula or . It forms hydrates , where ''n'' varies from 1 to 3. Anhydrous and all hydrated forms are colorless or white. The monohydr ...

raphides Raphides ( ; singular ''raphide'' or ''raphis'') are needle-shaped crystals of calcium oxalate monohydrate (prismatic monoclinic crystals) or calcium carbonate as aragonite ( dipyramidal orthorhombic crystals), found in more than 200 families o ...

, so it must be processed prior to consumption, typically by finely slicing into thin strips, placing in a sack or net, and leaving in a stream for a few days until the toxins have leached out. It is then dehydrated and cooked.

Herbal medicine

Grated gadung tubers are utilized in Indonesia and China for the treatment of early-stage leprosy, warts, calluses, and fish eyes (Source: . Additionally, the bulbs of the gadung plant are employed in treating wounds caused by syphilis. In Thailand, slices of gadung root are applied to alleviate stomach spasms, colic, and to extract pus from wounds. Furthermore, in the Philippines and China, it is used to provide relief from arthritis and rheumatism, as well as to cleanse wounds on animals. nternetRecord from Proseabase. J.L.C.H. van Valkenburg and N. Bunyapraphatsara (Editors). ''Plant Resources of South-East Asia'' No. 12(2): Medicinal and poisonous plants 2 (Plant Resources of South-East Asia) Foundation, Bogor, Indonesia. Diakses pada: 16-Apr-2010 Dioscorea tubers, the main component of gadung, possess a thick mucilage consisting of water-soluble glycoproteins and polysaccharides. These glycoproteins and polysaccharides serve as water-soluble dietary fiber and function as hydrocolloids. They have demonstrated beneficial effects in reducing blood glucose levels and total cholesterol levels, particularly LDL cholesterol.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q10752741 hispida Austronesian agriculture