A plant, which looks like yam bean, is about 3-5cm in diameter. It tastes bitter when boiled with it. Does anyone know what this is and what is its medicinal value? thank
This is Huang Du's little pearl bud (Dioscorea bulbifera), so don't eat it as yam bean, it's poisonous. Ingestion and overdose of root tuber can cause burning pain in mouth, tongue and throat, salivation, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal pain and pupil contraction, and even death due to coma, dyspnea or cardiac paralysis [A-8]. It has also been reported that it can cause toxic hepatitis.