The efficacy and function of potatoes

Potato is a common type of traditional Chinese medicine. It has many different functions and can treat some diseases of the human body. Let us learn about its specific functions below.

[Other names] Yangyu, yam egg (Illustrated Catalogue of Plant Names and Realities), foreign sweet potato (Chinese Vegetable Cultivation), potato (Cihai, 1963 edition), mountain potato (Hunan Materia Medica).

[Source] It is the tuber of potato, a plant of the Solanaceae family.

[Original form] Annual herb. The underground tuber is oval, 4 to 8 cm long and 3 to 6 cm in diameter. The outer skin is yellow-white and the inner skin is white. It has buds and grows densely on the short creeping stems. The above-ground stem is weak, 50 to 90 cm high, much branched, glabrous or pubescent. Pinnate compound leaves, alternate, with 3 to 4 pairs of leaflets, ovate or elliptic-ovate, 2 to 7 cm long, 1.5 to 4 cm wide, alternating in size, obtuse at apex, obliquely cordate at base, entire, veins protruding underneath, sparsely hairy on both sides, petiole 3 to 5 cm long. Flowers bloom at the terminal ends of branches in summer, with a panicle-shaped cyme and a peduncle 6 to 14 cm long; calyx bell-shaped, 5-lobed, with lobes linear-lanceolate; corolla radiate, white or lavender, with 5 shallow lobes at the apex, and lobes slightly triangular; stamens 5, short filaments, oblong anthers; pistil 1, ovary superior, 2-chambered, style slightly longer than stamens, and few fruits. The berries are spherical.

[Habitat distribution] It is cultivated in most parts of my country.

[Chemical composition] The tuber contains 75.0% water, 18.5% starch, 0.8% sugar, 1.0% fiber, 2.0% nitrogen, 0.2% fat, 0.9% ash, etc.; it also contains solanine, the content of which ranges from 20 mg to several hundred mg per kilogram. Solanum nigrum is more abundant in buds, while in tubers it is mainly in the cortex. The red-skinned ones contain more solanine than the yellow-skinned ones, and the immature ones contain more solanine than the mature ones. When the skin turns green due to light, the solanine content increases.

[Pharmacological action] The green tuber flesh of sprouted potatoes contains a small amount of solanine, which is not harmful to the human body. However, in some cases (storage does not increase the content), the solanine content can increase by 4 to 6 times compared with normal, even exceeding 0.4 g/kg, and 0.2 g of free solanine can produce typical saponin toxic effects. Although the symptoms are serious, they are not fatal. There have been reports of children dying from severe gastroenteritis after eating green potatoes. Experiments on rats have shown that injection of solanine can increase blood sugar, and α- or β-adrenergic receptor blockers can inhibit this effect.

【Nature and flavor】 Sweet, neutral.

【Functions and indications】Tonify Qi, strengthen the spleen, and reduce inflammation. Treat mumps and burns.

【Usage and Dosage】 For external use: apply to the affected area. For internal use: cook or decoct in water.

[Additional prescription] ① To treat mumps: one potato. Grind the juice with vinegar and apply it to the affected area. Apply again after it dries, without interruption. (Hunan Pharmacopoeia)

【Excerpt】 《*Dictionary》

It can be seen that the medicinal value of potatoes is still very obvious. However, not everyone can eat potatoes. We can judge based on our own physical condition.