Family Araceae
Gabi
Colocasia esculenta Linn.
TARO

Other scientific names   
Arum esculentum Linn.  Calla gaby Blanco
Arum colocasia Linn.  Caladium esculentum Vent. 
Colocasiua esculentum Linn.  Coladium colocasia W. F. Wight. 
Colocasia antiquorum Schott  Coladium violaceum Desf.

Common names  
Aba (ilk.)  Kimpoi (Bis.)
Aua (ilk.) Lagbai (Tag.)
Abalong (Bis.) Abalong (Bis., Tag.)
Amoang (Bon.) Linsa (Bik.)
Gabi (Tag.) Lubingan (If.)
Pising (Bon.) Natong (Bik.)
Dagmai (Bis.) Taro (Engl.)
  Kalo (Hawaii)
  Aro (Span.)

Botany
A long-stalked herbaceous plant with huge leaves., growing to a height of 30 to 150 cms. Rootstock is tuberous, up to 10 cm in diameter. The leaves in groups of two or three are long petioled, ovate, 20 to 50 cm long, glaucous, with entire margins, with a broad triangular basal sinus extending a third or halfway to the insertion of the petiole, with broad and rounded basal lobes. Petioles are green or purplish, 0.2 to 1 m long. Spathe is variable in length, about 20 cm long. Spadix is cylindric, half as long as the spathe, green below and yellowish above.

Distribution
Pantropic cultivation in the Philippines.
Grown in cultivated soil, nearby swamps or water.


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.
·
Availability
Cultivated and wild-crafted. 

Additional Sources and Suggested Readings
(1)
Hawaiian Ethnobotany Online Database
http://www2.bishopmuseum.org/ethnobotanydb/resultsdetailed.asp?search=kalo
(2)
Ure (Colocasia esculenta-Araceae): An Edible Aroid of the Warao
http://www.botany.hawaii.edu/era/vol4/I1547-3465-04-103.pdf
(3)
The Medicinal Uses of Poi
Amy C. Brown, Ph.D., R.D. and Ana Valiere, M.
http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=1482315
(4)
The anti-cancer effects of poi (Colocasia esculenta) on colonic adenocarcinoma cells in vitro
cat.inist.
(5)
THE ANTI-INFLAMMATORY ACTIVITY OF THE LEAVES OF COLOCASIA ESCULENTA
http://www.ksu.edu.sa/sites/Colleges/CollegeofPharmacy/Documents/SPJ/1534/153410.pdf