Notes

The tuber of D. hispida is the chief famine food of tropical Asia, as is D. dumetorum (Kunth) Pax for Africa. The tuber is poisonous because of a high content of the alkaloid dioscorine. Its preparation for food requires much time and skill and includes slicing, washing the fresh or boiled tuber in several changes of salt water, or in running water, and a final check on whether all poison has been removed.