One of the strangest food plants certainly is the air potato. The tubers of this Yam grow far above the ground in the leaf axils of the liana. Nevertheless, these can be quite large and heavy.

The tubers of non-cultivated plants still contain toxins, which can be eliminated by washing out and cooking. To prepare them like normal potatoes is recommended anyway, and afterwards the tuber vegetable should be further processed and well seasoned, because it tasts of nothing. This means at least that it is possible to use the tubers in various ways. As storage organs they contain a lot of starch and are therefore a valuable energy source.

• Edible Tubers (aboveground)
• Culinary group Tuber vegetable
• Taste neutral
• Trivial names Luftkartoffel, Air potato, Air yam, Cheeky yam, Potato yam, Hoffe, Pomme-en-l'air, Masako, Koko-bourik, Pomme Edward
• Size 15 cm (Tuber)
• Taxonomy Dioscoreaceae Dioscorea bulbifera
• Origin Tropics of Africa and Asia: Guinea, Congo Basin, South Asia, Farther Asia (Map)
• Received by Wissenschaftsgarten Frankfurt (FRG) 2016