Wild sweet potato, also known as "di guo" or "di gua pao", is a multi-purpose plant that can be used for food, medicine, landscaping, and ornamental purposes. The entire plant can be used for medicinal purposes, and its stems and leaves are also known as sweet potato vines. Due to limited cultivation, wild sweet potatoes are mostly found in natural habitats.
Image of Wild Sweet Potato
【Medicinal Value of Wild Sweet Potato】
Wild sweet potatoes can be used for various medicinal purposes. They have a bitter and slightly sweet taste and can clear heat and dampness from the body. They are used for treating digestive problems in children, acute gastroenteritis, dysentery, stomach and duodenal ulcers, urinary tract infections, vaginal discharge, colds, coughs, and rheumatic pain.
Their most important function is to dispel wind, eliminate heat, and promote blood circulation. In traditional Chinese medicine, they are often used to treat bronchitis, rheumatic pain, edema, and other diseases. They can be taken internally after decoction or used externally.
Wild sweet potatoes have excellent hemostatic properties. When someone is bleeding uncontrollably due to an injury, crushing the wild sweet potato and applying it to the wound can effectively stop the bleeding.
They can also be used for treating snake bites. The method is the same as above, and the poultice should be changed daily to quickly remove toxins from the body.
Wild sweet potatoes can also be indirectly consumed by humans, providing various vitamins and trace elements that the body needs.
Image of Wild Sweet Potato
【Cultivation and Planting of Wild Sweet Potato】
Wild sweet potatoes have characteristics such as cold resistance, drought resistance, shade tolerance, tolerance to poor and infertile soil, and resistance to waterlogging. They can thrive even in sandy or rocky areas where no other plants can grow.
Wild sweet potatoes are usually harvested during the fruiting period (June to October) after the Dragon Boat Festival. Even if they are more than 20 meters away from the sweet potatoes, their fragrance can still be detected. This is why they are also known as "fragrance all over the ground."
Due to limited cultivation, wild sweet potatoes mainly come from natural growth. However, they have great potential for increasing production. They can also be cultivated as fruits and are suitable for intercropping in orchards, transforming traditional single-season orchards into double-season orchards.
Wild sweet potatoes are easy to propagate and are commonly propagated by cuttings. The best time for propagation is from early March to early April when the temperature rises. Cuttings can be taken from 1-year-old branches, which should be 10-15 centimeters long. The substrate for propagation can be sand or loam.
During the seedling stage, it is important to water and remove weeds. Wild sweet potatoes are resistant to adversity and do not require frequent replacement or regular pruning after planting.
Image of Wild Sweet Potato
【Clinical Applications of Wild Sweet Potato】
Wild sweet potato is mainly used for treating chronic bronchitis, rheumatic pain, diarrhea, dysentery, mastitis, edema, irregular menstruation, postpartum pain, bloody stools, nosebleeds, lymphadenitis, bone setting, bruises, cuts, rabies bites, abscesses, pustules, and snake bites.
1. To treat dysentery: Take 4 liang (about 160 grams) of fresh sweet potato vines, stir-fry them until charred, and then roast them with brown sugar. Decoct and drink.
2. To treat cough with hemoptysis and fever due to yin deficiency: Take 5 to 8 qian (about 15 to 24 grams) of sweet potato stems, decoct in water, and drink.
3. To treat unknown swellings and burns: Crush the sweet potato vines and apply the mixture to the affected area with sesame oil.
4. To treat sweet potato ulcers: Take a handful of sweet potato vines, use them fresh, crush them, and apply them to the ulcer. Change them as they dry out. If the ulcer has already ulcerated, use cotton root bark, dried and ground into a fine powder, and sprinkle it on the ulcer.
