Scientific Name
Allium tuberosum Rottler ex Spreng.
Synonyms
Allium angulosum Lour. [Illegitimate], Allium argyi H.Lév., Allium chinense Maxim. [Illegitimate], Allium clarkei Hook.f., Allium roxburghii Kunth, Allium sulvia Buch.-Ham. ex D.Don, Allium tricoccum Blanco, Allium tuberosum Roxb. [Illegitimate], Allium tuberosum f. yezoense (Nakai) M.Hiroe, Allium uliginosum G.Don, Allium yesoense Nakai, Allium yezoense Nakai, Nothoscordum sulvia (Buch.-Ham. ex D.Don) Kunth [1]
Vernacular Name
| Malaysia | Bawang kuchai [2] |
| English | Fragrant- flowered garlic, sweet leek, [2] chinese chives [3] |
| China | Jiu cai, bian chai, zhuang yang cao, qi yang cao, chang sheng jiu, [2] nian hua, nian hua jiu cai, nin fa kau ts’oi [4] |
| India | Maroi-nakuppi [4] |
| Indonesia | Kecai, pucai (Javanese); bawang kucai, ganda (Sundanese); [2] kucai [3] |
| Thailand | He, phiec cat ngan, [2] kuichai , hom-paen[3] |
| Philippines | Kutsay (Tagalog); ganda (Bisaya); amput di imayyaw (Ifugao) [3] |
| Cambodia | Kachaay [3] |
| Vietnam | h[ej], n[es]n t[af]u, [3] hẹ, rau hẹ [4] |
| German | Nausdauernder lauch, schnittporree [4] |
| Russia | Luk dushistyi [4]. |
Geographical Distributions
Allium tuberosum is believed to have originated in China, where it was certainly grown in the 10th Century and probably even as early as 200 BC. It grows wild in the central and northern parts of Asia, and is cultivated in China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Nepal, the Philippines, Taiwan, Thailand and the United States. [3] The optimum temperature for A. tuberosum is about 20°C. In Indonesia, it is grown in the highlands up to 2200 m altitude on fertile and loose soils. [3]
Botanical Description
A. tuberosum comes from the family of Liliaceae, is a perennial herb which forms dense clumps. It is 20-40 cm tall, with a prominently spreading rhizome from where thick, long and persistent roots emerge. The bulbs are indistinct, narrowly ovoid, measuring 15-20 mm x 15 mm and with several protective brown bulb-coat leaves that break up into netted fibres. [3]
There are 4-9 foliage leaves, which are distichous, linear, measuring 13-45 cm x 2-10 mm, flat above, slightly keeled below, not folded lengthwise and suberect or curved. There is 1 peduncle that arises from ground. It is compressed, with 2 longitudinal ribs, up to 50 cm long and solid. [3]
The inflorescence is 3-5 cm in diameter, umbellate, many-flowered and without bulbils. The spathe is short, persistent and opens with 1-3 valves. The pedicels are 14-35 mm long and subequal. The flowers are white, widely opened, star-like and slightly fragrant. The tepals are oblong to ovate and measure 6 mm x 3 mm. The stamens and pistil are up to the length of the tepals. [3]
The fruit is obovoid, measures 5-6 mm long and wide. [3]
The seed is irregularly depressed spherical, measures 3-4 mm long and black. [3]
Cultivation
Under tropical conditions, growth is not interrupted by dormancy or by flowering. Nevertheless, flowering occurs in cultivars grown in Malaysia and Thailand, and the markets are commonly supplied with inflorescences as well. Flowering can be induced by using incandescent light to create artificial long days. [3]
Chemical Constituent
No documentation
Plant Part Used
No documentation
Traditional Use
No documentation
Preclinical Data
No documentation
Clinical Data
No documentation
Poisonous Management
No documentation.
Line Drawing
References
- The Plant List. Ver 1.1. Allium tuberosum Rottler ex Spreng.[homepage on the Internet]. c2013. [updated 2012 April 18; cited 2015 April 02] Available from: http://www.theplantlist.org/tpl1.1/record/kew-296861
- Compendium of Medicinal Plants Used in Malaysia. Vol. 1. Kuala Lumpur: HMRC-IMR: 2002. p.30.
- Sulistiarini D, Djamal J & Raharjo I. Allium tuberosum Rottler ex Sprengel. In: de Padua LS, Bunyapraphatsara N, Lemmens RHMJ, editors. Plant Resources of South-East Asia No. 12(1): Medicinal and poisonous plants 1. Leiden, Netherlands: Backhuys Publisher; 1999. p. 99-100.
- Philippines medicinal plants. Allium tuberosum Rottler ex Sprenge [homepage on the Internet] c2014. [updated 2014; cited 2015 April 2] http://www.stuartxchange.com/Kuchai.html
