Dioscorea pentaphylla L.

DeFilipps, Robert A. & Krupnick, Gary A., 2018, The medicinal plants of Myanmar, PhytoKeys 102, pp. 1-341 : 63

Dioscorea pentaphylla L.

Names.

Myanmar: kyway-u, put-sa-u. English: five-leaved yam.

Range.

Widespread- China, including Taiwan; Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Japan (Okinawa), Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, New Guinea, Philippines, Vietnam; Africa, Australia, Pacific islands. In Myanmar, found in Bago, Kachin, Mandalay, and Yangon.

Use.

Root: Tuber used to reduce swellings.

Notes.

The species can be made edible by prolonged washing alternately in salt and fresh water and then cooked, or by prolonged boiling with ashes of wood. The plant is also used for some medicinal purposes (exact uses not listed in Perry 1980).

Tubers of the genus contain tannin, saponin, and alkaloids, some in greater, some in less quantity than others (the alkaloids are poisonous, but may be washed out in a long tedious process) ( Perry 1980).

Reference.

Nordal (1963).