Dioscorea esculenta (Lour.) Burkill

Gembili (Dioscorea esculenta) is an annual climbing plant up to 3 meters tall of the Dioscoreaceae family, originating from Thailand and Vietnam, spreading widely across tropical regions since the 16th century. Its tuber has potential as a staple food processed into flour. Gembili is also traditionally believed to help relieve swelling, rheumatism, and boils.

This plant grows in tropical lowlands up to elevations of 900 m above sea level. Grows well at daytime temperatures of 28-32 °C, average annual rainfall of 800-2,000 mm/year, in full sunlight or shade, sandy clay loam soil with deep solum, well-drained, pH in the range of 5.5-6.5.

• Roots fibrous, has thorny roots in wild plants.
• Tuber round to oblong, smooth surface, tuber flesh clean white to cloudy white in color. Skin cream to light brown in color. Tuber length 15 to 20 cm.
• Stem round, slender, slightly hairy, thorny, twining to the right.
• Leaves single, alternating, heart-shaped, 8–15 cm long, 7–15.5 cm wide. Light green to dark green color with sparse to dense leaf density. Stalk color green, purple-tipped, or green with purple edges, leaf stalk length 2–15.5 cm.

Propagated by tuber cuttings. Tuber pieces, weighing about 50-80 g with dormant buds, are planted at a depth of 4-8 cm with the stem facing downward.

Saponins, diosgenin, ß-sitosterol, stigmasterol, cardiac glycosides, catechins, epicatechins, chlorogenic acids, leucoanthocyanidins, anthocyanins, flavonoids, alkaloids.

Treats swelling, rheumatism, boils, abscesses, beriberi, menopause symptoms and other genital organ disorders, diuretic.

• Wash the tuber of soil and other dirt.
• Blanch by soaking in hot water at 80 °C for 1 minute until the whole tuber is submerged in water.
• Peel the gembili tuber skin with a knife.
• Slice with a slicer to a thickness of 1-2 mm then soak the tuber in a 5% salt solution and 0.3% sodium metabisulfite for 2 hours.
• Wash with running water and dry in a cabinet dryer at 60 °C for 6-8 hours. Then blend the dried tuber and sift to an 80 mesh size.
• Pack the dried material in a clean, airtight container.

Ubi aung (West Java), Ubi gembili (Central Java), Kombili (Ambon).