''Diplazium esculentum'', the vegetable fern, is an edible

fern The ferns (Polypodiopsida or Polypodiophyta) are a group of vascular plants (plants with xylem and phloem) that reproduce via spores and have neither seeds nor flowers. They differ from mosses by being vascular, i.e., having specialized tissue ...

found throughout

Asia Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...

and

Oceania Oceania ( , ) is a region, geographical region including Australasia, Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. Outside of the English-speaking world, Oceania is generally considered a continent, while Mainland Australia is regarded as its co ...

. It is probably one of the most commonly consumed ferns. The genus '' Diplazium'' is in the family Athyriaceae, in the eupolypods II clade of the order

Polypodiales The Order (biology), order Polypodiales encompasses the major lineages of polypod ferns, which comprise more than 80% of today's fern species. They are found in many parts of the world including Tropics, tropical, semitropical and Temperate clima ...

, in the class Polypodiopsida.

Description

This plant is a large perennial fern with an ascending rhizome of about 50cm high and covered with short rufous scales of about 1mm long. The plant is bipinnate with long brownish petioles, and the petiole base is black and covered with short scales. The frond can reach 1.5m in length, and the pinnae is about 8cm long and 2cm wide.

Uses

The young fronds are stir-fried and used in salads. They may have mild amounts of fern toxins but no major toxic effects are recorded. It is known as '' pakô'' ("wing") in the Philippines, ''pucuk paku'' and ''paku tanjung'' in Malaysia, ''sayur'' ''paku'' or ''pakis'' in Indonesia, ''phak koot'' () in Thailand, ''rau dớn'' in Vietnam, ''dhekia ()'' in Assamese, ''Dhenki Shaak'' () in Bengali, ''paloi saag'' () in Sylheti, ''ningro'' in Nepali, ''dingkia'' in Boro and ''linguda'' in northern India, referring to the curled fronds. It is known as or in Hawaiian cuisine. The ferns grow in wet areas of shady valleys.
Hawai_i's Ferns and Fern Allies by Daniel Dooley Palmer page 125 The fern species ''Diplazium esculentum'' is believed to have been introduced and naturalized in Hawaii and was first reported collected in 1910. The fern also has medicinal uses.

Pharmacological effects

The extract also had alpha-glucosidase inhibitory activity.Chai TT, Yeoh LY, Mohd Ismail NI, Ong HC, Abd Manan F, Wong FC (2015
Evaluation of glucosidase inhibitory and cytotoxic potential of five selected edible and medicinal ferns
. Tropical Journal of Pharmaceutical Research 14 (3): 449-454.

Gallery

File:Yam phak khut.jpg, ''Yam phak khut'', a Thai salad of fern leaves and pork File:Ensaladang Pako with salted egg.jpg, ''Ensaladang pako'' (fern salad) with salted egg from the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

Image:DiplaziumEsculentumCoorg.jpg, Habitat

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q625571 esculentum Flora of tropical Asia Leaf vegetables Medicinal plants of Asia Medicinal plants of Oceania Ferns of the United States Hawaiian cuisine

Description

Uses

Pharmacological effects

Gallery

See also

References