Some tribes use a cold infusion in teaspoonful doses as a soporific. If eaten raw or parboiled it produces narcosis. Two teaspoonfuls of fresh macerate from the tuber are reputed to make a person drunk; hence the name `isidakwa', literally `the drunkard'.
In famine times, the Pondos eat the tubers, but soak them in running water for several days previously; if insufficiently soaked, a condition akin to drunkenness follows ingestion.
Maize cobs boiled in strong tuber decoctions are used to inebriate monkeys so that they can be easily caught.
Tubers are used for hysterical fits and to cure insanity.
Rhizomes are a sedative for hysteria & epilepsy.
All information is provided for historical purposes only.