Wild yam is a woody vine plant of the Moraceae family. It has the effects of clearing heat and dampness, promoting blood circulation and removing blood stasis, detoxifying and reducing swelling. Wild yam can treat jaundice and is distributed in Hunan, Guangxi, Yunnan and other places. It can be used as food and medicine. How to eat the sweet and crispy wild yam?
Picture of Wild Yam
[How to eat wild yam]
How to eat the sweet and crispy wild yam?
The fruit of wild yam can be eaten and has a very fragrant and sweet taste. When it is ripe, it emits a strong fragrance, which can be smelled within 20 meters. In Sichuan, there is a saying that the wild yam is ripe on June 6th and rots on July 7th, so the best time to eat wild yam is in midsummer.
After cleaning the wild yam, remove the stems at both ends before eating. It should be noted that there is a distinction between male and female wild yam. Only the male wild yam can be eaten, as the female wild yam has no moisture and cannot be eaten. In addition, the ones with worms inside should not be consumed.
[Wild yam for treating jaundice]
It is used to treat jaundice, scrofula, unidentified swelling and pain, rheumatic pain, diarrhea, dysentery, bleeding hemorrhoids, etc. It is also used to treat white discharge in women, spermatorrhea, leukorrhea in men, orchitis, abdominal pain, and other conditions. The root is boiled in water and taken with water or wine.
Medicinal functions: dispelling wind and dampness, promoting blood circulation and removing blood stasis, stopping white discharge, clearing heat and dampness, detoxifying.
Picture of Wild Yam
Main medicinal uses: chronic bronchitis, rheumatic pain, diarrhea, dysentery, mastitis, edema, irregular menstruation, postpartum blood stasis pain, rectal bleeding, nosebleeds, scrofula, bone setting, bruises, cuts, rabid dog bites, abscesses, pustular acne, snakebites.
Taste and meridian tropism: bitter, astringent, cool. It enters the liver, spleen, and stomach meridians.
[Methods to identify wild yam]
Wild yam is a perennial deciduous vine with milky latex. It has adventitious roots and climbs on trees or rocks. The stem is cylindrical or slightly flattened, brown, with many branches and slightly swollen nodes.
The leaves are alternate; leaf stalks are 1-2 centimeters long; there are 2 stipules, conical, pointed at the tip, with entire margins; leaf blades are ovate, ovate-oblong, or oblong, about 3-6 centimeters long and 2-4 centimeters wide;
The apex is blunt or pointed, the margin has wavy serrations, the base is round or heart-shaped, the upper surface is green with stiff hairs, and the lower surface is lighter with hairy veins.
The hidden inflorescence; the flowers of the wild yam are unisexual, numerous, and both male and female flowers grow inside the fleshy bracts; the inflorescence bracts are flattened and ball-shaped, reddish-brown, growing on the creeping branches and half-buried in the soil. The fruits are small. The flowering period is from April to May.
