Pueraria montana

Pueraria Montana is one of the Pueraria species called “Kudzu vine”. It belongs to the Fabaceae botanical family. Native to East Asia and some areas of south-east Asia, it is a vine that can grow 20 to 30 m long in thickets and thin woods.

Many parts of the plant are edible, particularly the root that can be 2 m long and is staple food in Japan, cooked or made into noodles.

The flowers and the roots are very popular herbs in traditional oriental medicine, commonly used in China to treat alcoholism, fever, colds, diarrhea, dysentery, cardiovascular diseases, migraine, measles, boils, swellings, mouth sores, etc. Today, they are used as a dietary supplement and in cosmetics.

Among the main constituents of the root are polyphenols, mainly isoflavonoids, triterpenoids with their glycosides; isoflavone derivatives including daidzein, daidzin, daidzein diacetate, daidzein dimethyl ether, genistein triacetate and apigenin triacetate; puerarin etc.

• English name Kudzu
• French name Kudzu