Chinese Herbalism
Air potato
Dioscorea bulbifera
Also known as air yam, bitter yam, potato yam, huang yao zi, huáng yào zǐ, huáng yào zhī.
Huang yao zi is the sliced and dried tuber of Dioscorea bulbifera, a twining yam of southern and central China, Japan, Southeast Asia and Africa that carries potato-like bulbils in its leaf axils. The wild Chinese tuber is bitter, cold and rich in iodine and furanoditerpenoids, and Chinese medicine has used it for centuries against goiter, neck nodules and hot swellings. It is also one of the best documented hepatotoxic herbs in the Chinese materia medica, so it is treated here as a restricted plant.
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Indications what the tradition reached for it in
- Simple goiter and thyroid nodules (short supervised courses only)
- Scrofula and enlarged neck lymph nodes
- Phlegm-fire nodules in the neck and breast
- Hematemesis, hemoptysis and epistaxis from blood heat
- Cough with lung heat and thick sputum
- Sores, carbuncles and abscesses (topical)
- Snakebite and insect bites as a folk topical
- Pharyngitis with swollen throat
- Adjunct in tumors of the neck and thyroid in hospital protocols
Specific indications
A firm, slow-growing goiter or thyroid nodule in a robust patient with heat signs, where a defined course of a few weeks is planned with liver monitoring
Hot, swollen neck nodes with a red throat and thick yellow sputum
Safety
Recognised toxicity. This plant carries a toxicity flag in the record; it is for trained practitioners only.
Low dose botanical. Used in drop doses in the classical practice; not a plant to dose freely.
The record lists 12 contraindications; open the plate in the library to read them in full.
In practice
The historical place of huang yao zi is goiter and phlegm-fire nodules of the neck, where it is combined with hai zao, kun bu, xia ku cao and zhe bei mu to soften and disperse. For bleeding from blood heat it is paired with bai mao gen or ce bai ye, and for hot swellings and bites it is applied externally as a wash or a paste in vinegar.
In Chinese medicine
Temperature: cold. Taste: bitter, acrid. Channels: Lung, Liver. Actions: Transforms phlegm, softens hardness and dissipates nodules, especially in the neck; Clears heat and resolves toxin from swellings, sores and bites; Cools the blood and stops bleeding from heat; Reduces goiter and thyroid swellings.
Dosing as the sources wrote it
| Preparation | As written | Metric |
|---|---|---|
| Decoction (short course, monitored) | 3-9 g dried tuber daily in decoction | 3000-9000 mg |
| Powder | 1-2 g powdered tuber twice daily | 1000-2000 mg |
| Topical | 10-20 g decocted in 300 mL water as a wash, or powdered tuber mixed with vinegar as a paste, applied twice daily | 10000-20000 mg |
Doses are reproduced from the sources for practitioners and are not a recommendation for any person.
From the sources
Overview. Huang yao zi is the sliced and dried tuber of Dioscorea bulbifera, a twining yam of southern and central China, Japan, Southeast Asia and Africa that carries potato-like bulbils in its leaf axils. The wild Chinese tuber is bitter, cold and rich in iodine and furanoditerpenoids, and Chinese medicine has used it for centuries against goiter, neck nodules and hot swellings. It is also one of the best documented hepatotoxic herbs in the Chinese materia medica, so it is treated here as a restricted plant.
Clinical Notes. The historical place of huang yao zi is goiter and phlegm-fire nodules of the neck, where it is combined with hai zao, kun bu, xia ku cao and zhe bei mu to soften and disperse. For bleeding from blood heat it is paired with bai mao gen or ce bai ye, and for hot swellings and bites it is applied externally as a wash or a paste in vinegar.
Chinese Medicine Profile. Temperature: cold. Taste: bitter, acrid. Channels: Lung, Liver. Actions: Transforms phlegm, softens hardness and dissipates nodules, especially in the neck; Clears heat and resolves toxin from swellings, sores and bites; Cools the blood and stops bleeding from heat; Reduces goiter and thyroid swellings.
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