Actinidia polygama var. lecomtei — Edible Plant Database

What to Eat

Edible parts: Fruit

The fruit in the "acorn" shape can be salted and eaten raw, fried in oil, added to rice, or mixed with sesame seeds and mayonnaise to top salads. The fruit may also be fermented to make Matatabi sake and miso, fermented into a fruit wine, or extracted for juice. The leaves, buds, and stems can also be ground into a powder or cut, steamed, and steeped to make tea. Adding mint or sugar can give variations in the tea.

Where to Find It

It grows naturally in Western China in thickets, 1350 - 2100 metres in W. Hupeh, Szechuan and S. Shensi Provinces.

Asia, China,

Countries: United Arab Emirates, Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Bahrain, Brunei, Bhutan, China, Georgia, Indonesia, Israel, India, Iraq, Iran, Jordan, Japan, Kyrgyzstan, Cambodia, North Korea, South Korea, Kuwait, Kazakhstan, Laos, Lebanon, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Mongolia, Maldives, Malaysia, Nepal, Oman, Philippines, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Syria, Thailand, Tajikistan, Timor-Leste, Turkmenistan, Turkey, Taiwan, Uzbekistan, Vietnam, Yemen

How to Identify

A climber 5 m tall. It has single and both sex flowers on the one plant. The fruit are 2.5 cm across.

Medicinal Uses

Silver vine has been used for its medicinal benefits for centuries. In China, silver vine was used as a preventive health aid, and is still commonly used as an alternative therapy for hypertension, arthritic pain, and was investigated for potential to induce apoptosis in in vitro promyelocytic leukemia. In traditional Chinese and Japanese medicine, it has been used for a wide range of health problems, including: In Korean Buddhism, silver vine was soaked in traditional Korean sauces and used for diuresis, alleviation of pain, hypertension, genital troubles, and bronchitis. In ancient times, travelers in Japan used the fruit of silver vine to regain energy. Silver vine leaves also have a high content of flavonoids, terpenoids, saponins, beta-carotene, vitamin C and vitamin E.

Wikipedia

Source ↗

Actinidia polygama (also known as silver vine, matatabi and cat powder) is a species of kiwifruit in the family Actinidiaceae. It grows in the mountainous areas of Korea, Japan and China at elevations between 500 and 1,900 metres (1,600 and 6,200 ft).