Common Name: Polynesian Arrowroot

General Information

Tacca leontopetaloides is a herbaceous perennial plant producing a cluster of 1 - 3, leaves on long petioles from a tuberous rootstock.
The plant was at one time widely cultivated for its edible root, which was used as a staple food in many areas of the tropics, especially in the Pacific Islands[, ]. The starch was extracted and sold in quantity to Europe, where it was used in bread making[]. Its importance has declined, though it is still cultivated for local use in many areas[]. The plant also has various local medicinal uses and is grown as an ornamental[].

Known Hazards

The untreated root is considered to be toxic in some areas[, ].

Botanical References

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Range

Widely spread in tropical areas, either as a native plant or naturalized, from Africa, through Asia to Australia and the Pacific..

Habitat

Secondary forest and thickets, and many open situations, clearings, grassland, savannah, coconut groves, and beach vegetation {Barringtonia formation), not shunning seasonally dry areas, such as teak and eucalypt woodland[].

Properties

Edibility Rating
Medicinal Rating
Other Uses Rating
Habit	Perennial
Height	1.00 m
Cultivation Status	Cultivated, Ornamental, Wild

Cultivation Details

A plant of low elevations in the moist tropics, where it is most commonly found near the sea and below elevations of 200 metres[].
Grows best in a fertile, humus-rich soil in the shade of trees[].
Plants can set seed three years from being a seedling[].
The tuber is replaced during the year by a new main tuber which arises from a downward-growing runner-like thick rhizome at a lower level and remains dormant after the yearly death of the aerial parts of the original plant[].
Tubers are harvested when the aerial parts have died off[]. It usually takes about 8 months from planting the crop to harvest, but sometimes it can be as much as 10 - 12 months[].
Most plants produce many starchy tubers, similar in appearance to potatoes, usually 10 - 15 cm in diameter, but they can reach 30 cm on rich soils[]. They normally weigh from 70 to 340g but can reach 1 kg[].
Two distinct forms have been reported from the Pacific Islands, one producing a single large tuber, the other with a number of smaller (potato-sized) tubers[].

Edible Uses

The root is a rich source of starch. It can be eaten raw or roasted, or the starch can be extracted[]. The tubers have eyes, a pale-yellow skin and dull-whitish flesh, and are usually bitter and almost inedible when raw[]. The starch, called Tahiti (or Fiji) arrowroot, is easy to extract and is used in breads or soups, it can be mixed with papayas, bananas and pumpkins, flavoured with vanilla and lemon, and cooked into poi[, ]. Good washing is essential because of the presence of the bitter substance (taccalin) which is said to be poisonous[].
To obtain the starch, the tubers are peeled, grated, and the resultant pulp washed in water several times, finally in a sieve or cloth. The aqueous starch solution is collected and the starch grains allowed to settle out, collected and dried in the sun[].
In cultivated plants the tuber can be 5 - 10cm long, with unconfirmed reports saying that it may reach the size of a coconut[].

Medicinal

Polynesian arrowroot is often used in traditional medicine in the Pacific Islands[].

The inside of the root is squeezed in water and applied as a rinse to injured eyes. The starch from the tubers of the plant was used as a remedy for diarrhoea and dysentery[]. The root is also used as a thickener in medical preparations[].
The starch from the root is rubbed onto sores and burns[].

The crushed leaf stalks of the plant are rubbed onto bee and wasp stings[].
The stem is roasted and the sap squeezed out and used in the form of ear drops as a remedy for earache[].

Other Uses

The leaf stalks and flower scapes make an excellent straw which can be used as a plaiting material for hats and bonnets[, ]. The straw is split into narrow strips then cured and dried. It is said to make an excellent, lightweight, glossy, white hat[].
The leaf stalks are made into brooms[].

The fresh starch extracted from the roots is used as a starch for clothes and as a glue[]. Traditionally, it is employed for pasting together the thin layers of beaten bark of the paper mulberry (Broussonetia papyrifera] in making tapa cloth[].

Propagation

Seed -
Division of the small, tuberous rhizomes which form at the base of the plant and often remain in the soil when the larger ones are harvested[]

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