Arrowroot
(Maranta arundinacea L.)
Arrowroot
(Maranta arundinacea L.)
The Arrowroot (Garut) plant is presumed to have originated from Central America and the northern part of South America, specifically western Ecuador. However, it is now distributed in various tropical regions, including Indonesia, where Arrowroot is often cultivated for its tubers as a food source, especially for baby food or for people who are recovering from illness because it is easier to digest.
The Arrowroot plant grows in moist soil with a pH of 5.5–6.5, fertile soil, and it prefers sunny areas or light shade with an annual temperature of 23–29
∘
C. This plant grows well in plains at an altitude up to 1,000 m a.s.l. and high rainfall of 1,500–2,000 mm/year.
Rhizome: Fleshy, cylindrical shape, white or reddish color.
Stem: Soft, upright, thin, highly branched towards the tip.
Leaves: Tough, branching, alternate, the petiole (leaf stalk) has a sheath at the base. The leaf blade is ovate (egg-shaped) to oblong, colored green or sometimes striped with white or reddish-purple.
Flowers: Panicle-shaped, growing at the tip of the stem, white in color.
Fruit: Oblong, dark red, glabrous (hairless) to hairy.
Tubers: Select tubers with 3 nodes, and plant them with shade.
After they are tall enough, move them to an unshaded area.
Harvest occurs when the plant is 12 months old.
Planting is usually done in October.
It is an antipyretic (fever reducer), antidiarrheal, increases breast milk production (ASI), a remedy for bladder infections, an antidote to poison (insect bites, venomous snakes), increases appetite, treats diarrhea, leucorrhea (keputihan), and stomach acid (gastric reflux).
Flavonoids, alkaloids, tannins, glycosides, steroids, phenols, saponins, and cardiac glycosides.
Increase appetite and treat acid reflux
Grind 80 g of dried arrowroot tubers into a powder. Boil the powder with enough tamarind in 2 cups of water until it forms a porridge.
Eat the porridge all at once, once daily.
Socfindo Conservation. 2023. Garut. https://www.socfindoconservation.co.id/plant/515 (15-05-2023)