Bitter Yam

Other Names: African Bitter Yam, Cluster Yam, Dioscorea dumetorum, Esuri Yam, Esuru, Helmia dumetorum, Igname Amère, Igname Sauvage, Igname Trifoliolée, Ikamba, Inhame-bravo, Name Amargo, Name de Tres Hojas, Ñame Amargo, Ono, Three-leaved Yam, Trifoliate Yam.
Bitter yam is a plant that grows in Africa. It has a fleshy, potato-like root (tuber) that is used for food in times of famine or for making medicine. Wild forms of bitter yam are likely to contain poisons and must be soaked and boiled before use. But bitter yams that are raised by farmers generally do not have the toxins because safer plants are cultivated selectively.

Special Precautions of Flavonoids

• Be careful not to confuse bitter yam (Dioscorea dumetorum) with Wild Yam (Dioscorea villosa) or Air Potato (Dioscorea bulbifera). All three are sometimes called bitter yam.
• Wild, uncooked bitter yam can be UNSAFE to eat or take by mouth as medicine. It contains chemicals that can be poisonous and cause seizures. Bitter yam also contains chemicals similar to the prescription drug digoxin (Lanoxin). These chemicals could cause a dangerously irregular heartbeat.
• There isn’t enough information to know whether the forms of bitter yam that are raised by farmers are safe to use as medicine, even though these forms are more likely to be free of poisonous chemicals.
• Digoxin (Lanoxin) interacts with BITTER YAM

Benefits and uses of Flavonoids are

People take bitter yam for diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis (RA), stomach pain (colic), menstrual disorders, and schistosomiasis. Schistosomiasis is a disease caused by parasitic worms.