Witnessed by: TCM · Ayurveda
Air potato (Dioscorea bulbifera), of the Dioscoreaceae family. Twining herbaceous vine with aerial bulbils and an underground tuber; native range: Tropical Asia and Africa; widely cultivated and naturalised. Globally recognized as varahikanda in Sanskrit, varahikand / genthi in Hindi, huang yao zi (黄药子) in Chinese, and air potato, bitter yam, aerial yam, potato yam in English. The part used is tuber and aerial bulbil. Rounded brown tubers, starchy and markedly bitter and acrid within.
In this cross-tradition database, we analyze how this substance operates across world medicine systems — tracking its traditional tastes, temperatures, tissue affinities, post-digestive effects, and planetary correspondences across Ayurveda, Unani, and Western herbalism.
AIR POTATO
IDENTITY
Name
- Common
- Air potato
- Scientific name
- Dioscorea bulbifera L.
- Family
- Dioscoreaceae
Form
- Part used
- tuber and aerial bulbil
PROPERTIES
Nature
Taste
how the plant declares itself on the tongue
- TCM
- bitter
- Ayurveda
- bitter · astringent
Temperature
- TCM
- cold
- Ayurveda
- cooling (sheeta)
Affinity
where in the body it travels
Organs / channels
- TCM
- Heart · Liver · Lung
PRACTICE
Virtue
Actions
- TCM
- cools the blood and resolves toxicity, disperses swelling and softens hardness (goitre and nodules), stops cough and calms wheezing
- Ayurveda
- vrishya (aphrodisiac), rasayana, arshoghna (for haemorrhoids), gulmahara (disperses abdominal masses), reduces kapha and pitta
Cautions
Contraindications: existing liver disease, prolonged or high dosing, and pregnancy
Toxicity: cumulatively hepatotoxic — the raw tuber can injure the liver with prolonged use, and provokes nausea and vomiting in excess
Interactions
- TCM
- hepatotoxic drugs: additive liver injury on top of the tuber's own hepatotoxicity
This is the card. Sign in for the full four-tradition entry — the aligned TCM · Ayurveda · Western · Unani reading, actions, dosing and cautions.