Sanjeet Kumar
Ravenshaw University
Cuttack, Odisha, India
sanjeet.biotech@gmail.com
Amorphophallus Paeoniifolius is a tropical tuber crop. This tuber crop is adopted well in the western countries as a cash crop. The crop is quite popular as a vegetable in several delicious cuisines. This elephant yarn belongs to the aroid family. The aroid family is characterized by its inflorescence. Amorphophallus paeoniifolius, the Elephant foot yam or Whitespot giant arum or Stink lily, is a tropical tuber crop that offers excellent scope for adoption in the tropical countries as a cash crop due to its production potential and popularity as a vegetable in various delicious cuisines. Elephant foot yam is basically a crop of Southeast Asian origin. It grows in wild form in the Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, and other Southeast Asian countries. In India it is grown mostly in West Bengal, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra and Orissa. In India it is popularly known as suran or jimikand in Hindi, senai kizhangu in Tamil, suvarna gedde in Kannada, ol in Bengali, chena in Malayalam, oluo in Oriya, and kanda gadda in Telugu. However, in Tonga, teve was seen as the most inferior of all yam species, only to be eaten if really nothing else was available. The rhizome, leaves and petioles of the plant is edible. These parts are cooked thoroughly before they are served. The root is restorative and is used for treating several diseases.
Ravenshaw University
Cuttack, Odisha, India
sanjeet.biotech@gmail.com
Amorphophallus Paeoniifolius is a tropical tuber crop. This tuber crop is adopted well in the western countries as a cash crop. The crop is quite popular as a vegetable in several delicious cuisines. This elephant yarn belongs to the aroid family. The aroid family is characterized by its inflorescence. Amorphophallus paeoniifolius, the Elephant foot yam or Whitespot giant arum or Stink lily, is a tropical tuber crop that offers excellent scope for adoption in the tropical countries as a cash crop due to its production potential and popularity as a vegetable in various delicious cuisines. Elephant foot yam is basically a crop of Southeast Asian origin. It grows in wild form in the Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, and other Southeast Asian countries. In India it is grown mostly in West Bengal, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra and Orissa. In India it is popularly known as suran or jimikand in Hindi, senai kizhangu in Tamil, suvarna gedde in Kannada, ol in Bengali, chena in Malayalam, oluo in Oriya, and kanda gadda in Telugu. However, in Tonga, teve was seen as the most inferior of all yam species, only to be eaten if really nothing else was available. The rhizome, leaves and petioles of the plant is edible. These parts are cooked thoroughly before they are served. The root is restorative and is used for treating several diseases.
Amorphophallus Paeoniifolius is popular as Elephant Food Yarn.
§ Suran in Hindi
§ Senai Kizhangu in Tamil
§ Suvarna Gedde in Kanada
§ Ol in Bengali
§ Chena in Malayalam
§ Oluo in Oriya
Amorphophallus is not a carnivorous plant. The smell or odor of this plant is similar to the smell of rotting flesh. The term “Amorphophallus” is derived from two Greek words “amorphos” and “phallus”. “Amorphos” means without form or shape and “phallus” means penis. The plant was named so because of its peculiar column like spike that makes it look different. Amorphophallus Paeoniifolius is actually a crop of Southeast Asian region and is quite hardy in the tropical areas. Amorphophallus paeoniifolius is perhaps one of the ugliest flowers (inflorescence) in the world and to accompany it, it has one of the worst scents that you can imagine. It's hard to get close to the flower when it's releasing its perfume. Fortunately, the foul odor only lasts for a few hours after the flower opens. The plant only blooms when mature and even so it doesn't bloom every year. Flowers last only about 5 days. Even more interesting, during this phase the plant generates heat which can be felt if you have the guts to stick your hand inside the inflorescence. The heat and the smell mimics an animal that has recently died to attract the flies that will pollinate the flower. Amorphophallus will go dormant in the winter. Plant the tubers in pots at least 4" wider than the bulb. Bury them about 8"-10" deep for big bulbs, 5" for medium size bulbs, and 1" - 3" for small bulbs and use a good quality potting mix. Make sure that the top of the plant is facing up. When dormant, don't give it too much water, let the soil dry out. Keep it dry for a couple of weeks and then water it again. Don't fertilize. Repeat this process until the tuber wakes up in the spring. At that time you can start watering regularly and fertilizing the plant.
In the spring, if the plant is mature enough, you will see the flowers, otherwise a leaf will sprout. Very often they form clumps with the flower appearing between the leaves. Water and fertilize when growing. They should start going dormant again in the fall. The tuber can be dug up by late winter if necessary.
In the spring, if the plant is mature enough, you will see the flowers, otherwise a leaf will sprout. Very often they form clumps with the flower appearing between the leaves. Water and fertilize when growing. They should start going dormant again in the fall. The tuber can be dug up by late winter if necessary.
Tuber depressed-globose, to about 30 cm in diameter, about 20 cm high, dark brown, root scars prominent, annulate, offsets produced every season, these thick rhizomatous, to about 10 cm long, about 4 cm in diameter. Leaf solitary or two; petiole to about 2 meters long and about 20 cm in diameter, background colour pale to dark green or blackish green, usually with large and small pale blotches and numerous tiny dark dots, the large blotches often confluent, especially near the base, surface shallowly corrugate to strongly echinate-verrucate; lamina highly dissected, to about 3 meters in diameter; leaflets rounded, oval, ovate, obovate, elliptic, elliptic-oblong, elliptic-lanceolate or lanceolate, acuminate, 3 to 35 cm long, 2 to 12 cm in diameter, upper surface midgreen, lower surface mid-green or pale green. Inflorescence short-peduncled; peduncle 3 to 20 cm long, about 1 to 8 cm in diameter, usually paler and smoother than petiole; spathe campanulate, broader than long, 10 to about 40 cm long, 15 to about 60 cm in diameter, base and limb often separated by a shallow constriction, limb spreading, strongly undulate, base outside very variable, background color ranging from pale green to dark brown, usually with large and small, circular paler spots, base inside lower part deep maroon, upper zone dirty whitish or very pale pinkish, limb outside as base but with more prominent maroon flushes, especially near the margin, limb inside usually glossy dark maroon, base within densely verrucate, verrucae variable, mostly conical, fleshy. Spadix sessile, shorter or longer than spathe, 7 to about 70 cm long.
Distribution: Madagascar, eastwards via India to Malesia, southern China, Indochina, Polynesia, northern Australia (in almost all imaginable secondary conditions, either secondary forest or highly disturbed areas, in dappled shade or fully exposed areas, altitude 0 to 700 meters).
The large number of synonyms presented here originates from many an author's attempt to define a set of the variable characters of A. paeoniifolius as supporting the separation of new species from the main body of the species. The main body being specimens with large, pyramidal appendices, very long styles, bilobed stigmas and fairly rough petioles. Mostly the spadix is longer than the spathe but in inflorescences developing from small tubers this is reversed, and occasionally the appendix takes a more isodiametric shape, but this may also be found in large specimens. The relative length of the female zone compared to the male zone varies at random. The shape of the male zone depends strongly on the width of the appendix base. When the latter is large, the male zone is often roofed against the underside of the appendix resulting in a strong obconic shape. Alternatively, when the appendix base is narrow, the male zone is cylindric or only slightly obconic. The degree of roughness of the petiole may vary within one clone or specimen but is usually constant. In certain areas roughness is ubiquitous (e.g. in Papua New Guinea), but may vary from rough to near smooth (e.g. Java, India). So far no correlation between any of these characters has been found on a large scale. Amorphophallus paeoniifolius has a centuries old cultivation history in the Asian and Indopacific region and its natural distribution has been totally obscured because many specimens found in the wild are (probably) weedy escapees from cultivation. The closest relative of A. paeoniifolius is A. hirsutus. Grow in any fertile soil. The tuber may be stored dry when dormant
Elephant foot yam is a crop of South East Asian origin. The plant prefers growing in secondary forests, shrub forests and grasslands of arid valley areas at an elevation of 700 meters. This foot yam grows in wild form in Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, and several other parts of Southeast Asian countries. In several parts of India like West Bengal, Kerala, Maharashtra, and Orissa, Amorphophallus Paeoniifolius is widely found. In India it is popularly known as Suran. This family contains many plants recognised as having horticultural appeal such as the Arum Lilies, Monstera, Syngonium and Philodendron. The family is characterised by its inflorescence, consisting of a fleshy spike of small flowers (spadix) usually subtended by a large bract (spathe).
Amorphophallus paeoniifolius occurs through the tropics, from India to New Guinea and to Australia where it is found in tropical Queensland and Northern Territory in seasonally dry areas. The species was previously called Amorphophallus campanulatus.
This plant produces a single inflorescence followed by a solitary leaf. The plant is deciduous, dying back to a large underground corm, weighing up to 8kg, after the growing season.
Some people regard the inflorescence as bizarre. It comprises a large spadix crowned with a bulbous purple knob, encircled by a fleshy purple and green-blotched spathe up to 50cm wide. On successful pollination of the female flowers the spadix can extend to 2m tall. The fresh inflorescence emits an odor reminiscent of rotting flesh to attract pollinating carrion flies and beetles.
The solitary leaf resembles a small tree. The leaf blade is much divided into hundreds of leaflets and can reach over 1m wide. This blade sits atop a thick fleshy stem up to 13cm diameter and 2m tall. The pustular surface of the stem is attractively blotched with paler shades of green.
Amorphophallus paeoniifolius is quite hardy in tropical areas when planted in rich, well-drained soil in a sheltered, humid position. In temperate areas the plant can be grown successfully as a container specimen. A pot twice the diameter of the corm should be selected and filled with rich, well-drained potting mix.
The corm needs to be planted well below the soil surface to give the plant stability. Ample water is required during the growing season but the amount can be reduced dramatically during dormancy. Corms of potted specimens can be removed from the pot and stored dry to prevent frost damage. The occasional application of a high phosphorus fertilizer (NPK 15,30,15) will ensure maximum growth and health of the plant.
The plant can be propagated from offsets of the corm or by fresh seed sown in a slightly acidic seed raising mix. As most of the starch stored in the corm is used to produce the leaf, transplanting should not be attempted until the leaf has wilted and the new corm developed.
The corms of some varieties are edible and grown as food crops in several Asian countries, especially Indonesia.
The main horticultural pests affecting Amorphophallus paeoniifolius is nematodes.
The central nervous system activity of the petroleum ether extract of Amorphophallus paeoniifolius tuber was examined in mice, fed normal as well as healthy conditions. The petroleum ether extract of Amorphophallus paeoniifolius tuber at the doses of 100, 300 and 1000 mg/kg showed significant central nervous system activity in mice.
This tuber is consumed by many people as a food and widely used in many Ayurvedic preparations.
The tubers of wild plants are highly acrid and cause irritation in throat and mouth due to excessive amount of calcium oxalate present in the tubers. The tubers are anodyne, antiinflammatory, antihaemorrhoidal, haemostatic, expectorant, carminative, digestive, appetizer, stomachic, anthelmintic, liver tonic, aphrodisiac, emmenagogue, rejuvenating and tonic. They are traditionally used in arthralgia, elephantiasis, tumors, inflammations, hemorrhoids, hemorrhages, vomiting, cough, bronchitis, asthma, anorexia, dyspepsia, flatulence, colic, constipation, helminthiasis hepatopathy, splenopathy, amenorrhea, dysmenorrhoea, seminal weakness, fatigue, anemia and general debility[7]. The tuber is reported to have antiprotease activity[8], analgesic activity[9], and cytotoxic activity[10].
To the best of our knowledge, the pharmacological properties of this tuber have not been studied extensively so far. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to determine the central nervous system activity of the petroleum ether extract of Amorphophallus paeoniifolius tuber in healthy mice.
The crop prefers growing in rich, well-drained soil. It will be much better if the plant can be grown in a sheltered, moist position. The plant grows well in the temperate areas. Select a pot twice the diameter of the corm and fill it with rich, well drained potting mix.
Make sure that the corm is planted well below the soil surface to lend plant support. During the growing season, ample water should be provided. Reduce the amount radically during the dormancy period. Sometimes the pots are been affected by frost and to avoid the situation corms of potted specimens should be removed. Pesticides should be used.
Energy 330 kJ/100 g (approx),Water 72-79 %,Protein: 1.7-5.1 %,Fat: 0.2-0.4 %,Carbohydrate: 18-24 %,Fiber: 0.8 %,Calcium: 50-56 mg/100 g,Iron: 0.6-1.4 mg/100 g,Phosphorus: 20-53 mg/100 g,Vitamin A: 434 IU/100 g
Amorphophallus Paeoniifolius Health Benefits
Amorphophallus Paeoniifolius is popular because of its amazing health benefits.
§ The root of the plant is efficient in treating opthalmia.
§ Suran is great for treating piles and hemorrhages.
§ Consumption of this crop increases the immunity level of our body.
§ Those having digestion problem can have suran in their lunch. No need to have it daily but try to consume at least 2 days a week.
§ This vegetable is high in nutrients and is also known for having valuable vitamin, antioxidant and mineral content.
The root is used for curing stomach pain, treating piles and hemorrhages. Apart from that, those suffering from other health problems like bronchitis, asthma, anemia, and liver malfunction can have this vegetable to get rid of such health issues.
Pregnant women should not have it. Consumption of this vegetable during pregnancy can harm both the mother and the baby.
§ Consumption of elephant yam is good for women
§ Yams can provide relief from premenstrual syndrome
§ The plant looks like the foot of an elephant and that’s why is named so.
§ It also acts as anticoagulant.
Source: From Literature
No comments:
Post a Comment