(Roxb.) Blume ex Decne.
Family: Araceae.
Habitat: Native to tropical Asia; cultivated throughout India.
English: Elephant-foot Yam.
Ayurvedic: Suurana, Kanduula, Arshoghna, Kand-ayak, Kandala.
Unani: Zamin-qand, Zamikand.
Siddha/Tamil: Chenaikkizhangu. Kaathukarunai (wild var.)
Action: Corm is prescribed in bronchitis, asthma, abdominal pain, emesis, dysentery, enlargement of spleen, piles, elephantiasis, diseases due to vitiated blood, rheumatic swellings.
Along with other therapeutic applications, The Ayurvedic Pharmacopoeia of India indicates the use of corm in prostatic hyperplasia.(The corm is irritant due to the presence of calcium oxalate. It can be con- sumedafterit iswashedwell andboiled in tamarind water or butter milk.)The corm contains an active di- astatic enzyme amylase, betulinic acid, tricontane, lupeol, stigmasterol, beta- sitosterol and its palmitate and glucose, galactose, rhamnose and xylose.Intake of 3.6-7.2 g of konjac (Amor- phophallus konjac tuber) mannan for 90 days reduced the dose of insulin or hypoglycaemic drugs (in human clinical study). (Francis Brinker.)Amorphophallus sylvatius Kunth. is equated with the wild var. of Suu- rana, used especially in the treatment of piles.
Dosage: Dried corm—2-10 g powder. (API Vol. III.) 3-5 g powder. (CCRAS.)
Roxb.
Synonym: T. integrifolia Ker-Gawl.
Habitat: Aka hills in Arunachal Pradesh.
Ayurvedic: Vaaraahikanda (substitute), Vaaraahi. (Dioscorea bulbifera is equated with Vaaraahikanda.)
Folk: Duukarkand (Gujarat).
Action: Tuber—nutritive and digestive; applied to haemorrhagic diathesis, cachexia, leprosy and other cutaneous affections.
The tuber contains gamma-amino- butyric acid, glycine, leucine, valine, quercetin-3-arabinoside, D (-)-ribose, n-triacontanol, betulinic acid, castano- genin and taccalin.
Habitat: Entire Deccan Peninsula, extending into Madhya Pradesh and Bihar.
English: Fiji Arrowroot, Tahiti Arrowroot.
Ayurvedic: Suurana. (Instead of wild var., cultivated elephant-foot- yam, Amorphophallus paeoniifolius var. campanulatus, is used.)
Siddha/Tamil: Karachunai.
Action: Tuber—acrid, astringent, carminative, anthelmintic. Used in the treatment of piles, haemophilic conditions, internal abscesses, colic, enlargement of spleen, vomiting, asthma, bronchitis, elephantiasis and intestinal worms.
The tuber, macerated and repeatedly washed with water, yield a starch (76.0%).The presence ofbeta-sitosterol, ceryl alcohol and taccalin (a bitter principle) has been reported in the tuber.Taccagenin and leontogenin have been isolated froma acid hydrolysate of leaf extract. Diosgenin and its derivatives, isonarthogenin and isonu- atigenin together with nuatigenin have also been isolated.A bitter extract, prepared by washing the grated tubers in running water, is a rubefacient; and is also given in diarrhoea and dysentery.... tacca aspera
Health Encyclopedia