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Specimen profile
Air Potato
Dioscorea bulbifera · Dioscoreaceae
Skt · Varahi — “Resembling the snout or strength of the divine boar”Hindi · GethiMal · KachilTam · Kattu Kachi
A potent Ayurvedic tuber known as a premier rasayana for endocrine balance and digestive metabolism.
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Dioscorea bulbifera is a vigorous twining monocot characterized by cordate leaves and the production of distinctive aerial bulbils in leaf axils alongside subterranean tubers. The underground tuber is fibrous, dark-skinned, and rich in steroidal sapogenins. Classically reckoned among the Rasayana drugs, it requires proper shodhana (purification) or cooking to neutralize wild acridity.
Identification markers
Twiner twisting to the left with alternate heart-shaped leaves; prominent warted brown aerial bulbils; dense subterranean tubers with yellowish flesh.
Rasa
Tikta, Katu, Madhura
Guna
Laghu, Ruksha
Virya
Ushna
Vipaka
Katu
Prabhava
Rasayana
Dosha effect
K V- P+
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