Dioscorea ALATA L.
| Synonym : | Dioscorea javanica Queva Dioscorea purpurea Roxb. Elephantodon eburnea (Lour.) Salisb. Polynome alata (L.) Salisb. |
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| Bangla Name : | Chupri Alu, Mete Alu, Kamalu, Kham, Kham-alu.,Raing (Tanchangya). |
| English Name : | Yam, The Greater Yam, Asiatic Yam. |
| Family : | Dioscoreaceae |
| Disease : | Constipation, leprosy, piles, fever, gonorrhea, rash and itch. |
| Description : | A large twinner, tubers roundish or oblong, white inside. Leaves mostly opposite, 7.5-18 cm long, broadly ovate, cuspidately acuminate, subhastately or deeply cordate. Capsule 2.5 x 3.8 cm, broader than long, of two semicircular flat lobes, retuse at the apex. |
| Distribution : | Cultivated throughout Bangladesh. |
| Chemical Constituents : | Tuber contains anthocyanins, steroidal glycosides, cholesterol, campesterol, ?-sitosterol and stigmasterol, diosgenin, sapogenin, alkaloid and starch. It also contains a number of sterols and trans-crotonic, ferulic and palmitic acids (Ghani, 2003). |
| Uses : | The plant is used in constipation. Tubers are anthelmintic, useful in leprosy, piles, fever and gonorrhoea. Leaves are used in rash and itch. |
| Habit : | - |