''Diplazium esculentum'', the vegetable fern, is an edible
fern
A fern (Polypodiopsida or Polypodiophyta ) is a member of a group of vascular plants (plants with xylem and phloem) that reproduce via spores and have neither seeds nor flowers. The polypodiophytes include all living pteridophytes exce ...
found throughout
Asia
Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area ...
and
Oceania
Oceania (, , ) is a region, geographical region that includes Australasia, Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. Spanning the Eastern Hemisphere, Eastern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres, Oceania is estimated to have a land area of ...
. It is probably the most commonly consumed fern.
The genus ''
Diplazium
''Diplazium'' is a genus of ferns that specifically includes the approximately 400 known species of twinsorus ferns. The Greek root is ''diplazein'' meaning ''double'': the indusia in this genus lie on both sides of the vein. These ferns were ...
'' is in the family
Athyriaceae
The Athyriaceae (ladyferns and allies) are a family of terrestrial ferns in the order Polypodiales. In the Pteridophyte Phylogeny Group classification of 2016 (PPG I), the family is placed in the suborder Aspleniineae, and includes two gene ...
, in the
eupolypods II
Aspleniineae is a suborder of ferns in the order Polypodiales. It is equivalent to the clade eupolypods II in earlier systems; it is also treated as a single very broadly defined family Aspleniaceae. The suborder generally corresponds with the o ...
clade
[ of the order ]Polypodiales
The order Polypodiales encompasses the major lineages of polypod ferns, which comprise more than 80% of today's fern species. They are found in many parts of the world including tropical, semitropical and temperate areas.
Description
Polypodiale ...
,[ in the class ]Polypodiopsida
A fern (Polypodiopsida or Polypodiophyta ) is a member of a group of vascular plants (plants with xylem and phloem) that reproduce via spores and have neither seeds nor flowers. The polypodiophytes include all living pteridophytes except th ...
.[
]
Description
This plant is a large perennial fern with ascending rhizome of about 50 cm high and covered with short rufous scales of about 1 mm long. The plant is bipinnate with long brownish petioles, and the petiole base is black and covered with short scales. The frond can reach 1.5 m in length, and the pinnae is about 8 cm long and 2 cm wide.
Uses
The young fronds are stir-fried and used in salads.[ ''pucuk paku'' and ''paku tanjung'' in Malaysia, ''sayur'' ''paku'' or ''pakis'' in Indonesia, ''dhekia (ঢেকীয়া)'' in ]Assam
Assam (; ) is a state in northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . The state is bordered by Bhutan and Arunachal Pradesh to the north; Nagaland and Manipur ...
"Dhenki Shaak (ঢেঁকি শাক) in Bengali
Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to:
*something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia
* Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region
* Bengali language, the language they speak
** Bengali alphabet, the w ...
", ''paloi saag'' (পালই শাগ) Sylheti
Sylheti may refer to:
* Sylhetis, an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group in the Sylhet division and South Assam
* Sylheti language, a language of the Sylheti region
* Sylheti Nagri
Sylheti Nagri or Sylheti Nagari ( syl, , ISO: , ), known in cla ...
, ''ningro'' in Nepali,dingkia in Boro and ''linguda'' in northern India, referring to the curled fronds. In Thailand it is known as ''phak koot'' ( th, ผักกูด). They may have mild amounts of fern toxins but no major toxic effects are recorded.
Pharmacological effects
The extract also had alpha-glucosidase
α-Glucosidase (EC 3.2.1.20, maltase, glucoinvertase, glucosidosucrase, maltase-glucoamylase, α-glucopyranosidase, glucosidoinvertase, α-D-glucosidase, α-glucoside hydrolase, α-1,4-glucosidase, α-D-glucoside glucohydrolase; systematic n ...
inhibitory activity.[Chai TT, Yeoh LY, Mohd Ismail NI, Ong HC, Abd Manan F, Wong FC (2015]
Evaluation of glucosidase inhibitory and cytotoxic potential of five selected edible and medicinal ferns
Tropical Journal of Pharmaceutical Research 14 (3): 449-454.
Gallery
File:Yam phak khut.jpg, ''Yam phak khut'', a Thai salad
Salads that are internationally known as Thai salads with a few exceptions fall into four main preparation methods. In Thai cuisine these are called ''yam, tam, lap'' and ''phla''. A few other dishes can also be regarded as being a salad.
Overvi ...
of fern leaves and pork
File:Vegetable fern at Abe Restaurant, Manila.jpg, ''Ensaladang pako'' (fern salad) at Larry Cruz
Lorenzo "Larry" J. Cruz (September 17, 1941 – February 4, 2008) was a Filipino restaurateur who founded the LJC Restaurant Group, which operates several restaurants in the Philippines. Among the restaurants in the said group include ''Café Adri ...
's Abe Restaurant, in Manila
Manila ( , ; fil, Maynila, ), officially the City of Manila ( fil, Lungsod ng Maynila, ), is the capital of the Philippines, and its second-most populous city. It is highly urbanized and, as of 2019, was the world's most densely populate ...
Image:DiplaziumEsculentumCoorg.jpg, Habitat
See also
* Fiddlehead fern
Fiddleheads or fiddlehead greens are the furled fronds of a young fern, harvested for use as a vegetable.
Left on the plant, each fiddlehead would unroll into a new frond (circinate vernation). As fiddleheads are harvested early in the sea ...
*'' Sphenomeris chinensis''
References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q625571
esculentum
Flora of tropical Asia
Leaf vegetables
Medicinal plants of Asia
Medicinal plants of Oceania