Thursday, February 19, 2009

Dioscorea pentaphylla L.


English Name : Five-Leaf Yam

Family : Dioscoreaceae

Origin : Tropical Asia

Description
A slender twining herb prickles at base and bulbils at leaf joint. Leaves trifoliate, glabrous below, leaf stalk long, tip blunt, oblique base. Flowers small, pale green. Fruit capsule, oblong having notch at both ends. Seed flat and winged.

Parts Used : Tuber, rhizome and plant

Herb Effects
Antiinflammatory (50% EtOH rhizome extract).

Active Ingredients
Dioscorine (tuber); alanine, arginine, ascorbic acid, aspartic acid, beta-carotene, glutamic acid, glycine, histidiene, leucine, linoleic acid, lysine, methionine, niacin, oleic acid, palmitic aid, phenylalanine, riboflavin, stearic acid, thiamin, tryptophan, tyrosine, valine (root).

Medicinal Use
In anasarca and dropsy (plant); rheumatism (tuber decoction). The tuber is used as an external application to disperse swellings, and also as a tonic. Its decoction is used externally to relieve rheumatism.

Reference

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