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Chemical
constituents and characteristics
Leaves and petioles are excellent
to taste, also rich in minerals.
The corms, petioles and leaf blades are good sources of vitamin B.
Leaf juice considered styptic, stimulant, rubifacient.
Juice of corm is considered laxative, demulcent and anodyne.
Tubers are digestive, laxative, diuretic, lactagogue, and styptic.
Pressed juice of petioles are styptic.
Acridity of leaves, petioles and tubers is due to rarphides which
easily disappear on boiling or cooking. These crystals may cause
irritation.
Parts utilized:
Roots and leaves.
Uses
Folkloric
Juice of petioles sometimes used for
earache and otorrhea.
Juice of the corm used in alopecia.
Leaf juice also used for internal hemorrhages, otalgia, adenitis.
Internally, a good laxative. Also, used for piles.
Also, used as antidote for wasp and insect stings.
Heated tubers are applied locally to painful rheumatic joints.
Ash of the tubers, mixed with honey, is used for buccal aphthous stomatitis.
Raw juice of gabi, mixed with sugar, used as febrifuge.
In Hawaii, end of petioles
used to stop wounds from bleeding.
Stem leaf used on insect bites to prevent swelling and pain.
Juice consumed to reduce fever.
• In Venezuela,
the corm is used as an abortifacient and to treat tuberculosis, pulmonary
congestion, crippled extremities, fungal abscesses in animals and as
an anthelminthic. The Warao use the stem sap for wasp stings. Poi, a
ferment from crom shavings, is used bo bathing the sickly to improve
muscle tone.
Culinary / Nutrition
Leaves and petioles are excellent
to taste, also rich in minerals.
The corms, petioles and leaf blades are good sources of vitamin B.
To the early Hawaiians, grown mainly for poi production.
Its easy digestibility makes it a great nutritional supplement for weight
gain needs in cancer-cachexia, AIDS, pancretititis and a miscellany
of weight-loss conditions.
Studies
• The Medicinal Uses of Poi
– The possibility of poi being a probiotic in medical nutrition
therapy was raised. Investigation has determined that the predominant
bacteria in poi are Lactobacillus lactis (95%) and Lactobacilli (5%),
containing more lactobacilli per gram than yogurt. It was also considered
for use in infants with allergies and failure-to-thrive. This review
suggests a need to confirm these results.
• Anti-cancer: The
anti-cancer effects of poi (Colocasia esculenta) on colonic adenocarcinoma
cells in vitro: The study results suggest that
poi may have a novel tumor specific anti-cancer activities and suggests
further animal studies and human clinical trials.
• Anti-inflammatory: An extract study produced
significant anti-inflammatory actvity.
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Availability
Cultivated and wild-crafted.
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