Seppankizhangu (Colocasia esculenta)

Seppankizhangu is Colocasia esculenta, taro — the wet aroid whose corm and leaf are food only after cooking. Hindi arbi is the same crop. It is not an Alocasia, not a Xanthosoma, and not a raw snack. Calcium oxalate needles are why a raw bite makes the mouth itch. Cook it. Look at the peltate leaf.

Botanical name: Colocasia esculenta (L.) Schott
Family: Araceae
Tamil: Seppankizhangu
Hindi: Arbi
Sanskrit: Āluka
Parts used: Corm, Leaves
Habit: Wet-ground aroid; the articles are a cooked corm and a cooked leaf
Last updated: 2026-10-30

How to recognise Seppankizhangu

Schott published the combination. The family is Araceae. It is a stemless wet herb: large peltate (shield-shaped) leaves on succulent petioles, and a corm underground. The inflorescence is a spathe and spadix, often unseen in kitchen beds.

Tamil seppankizhangu / cheppankizhangu / sempu, Hindi arbi / arvi and Sanskrit āluka are the names. English taro, dasheen and eddo are this crop complex. Cultivars differ in acridity and colour.

Corm and leaf are eaten only after thorough cooking. A raw ornamental aroid is not food.

Alocasia macrorrhizos and other ornamentals share a garden and not a plate. If the leaf is not peltate, it is not taro.

Xanthosoma (tannia) is a New World cousin sold as arbi in some markets. Shared corm is not a genus.

Petioles may be green or purple. Colour is a cultivar fact.

The corm is starchy with a ringed skin. Eyes sprout. That is how a bed is planted.

Leaves shed water. That is ordinary aroid epidermis, not a product.

Wild-looking aroids in a ditch may be this crop gone feral, or a different genus. Do not eat an unnamed ditch corm.

Traditional use of Seppankizhangu

South Indian food

Cooked corm as a roast or curry and cooked leaf as a green are cuisine.

Tamil, Kerala and wider kitchen practice

Household

The plant is a wet-bed crop. Ceremony sometimes uses the leaf. Ceremony is not a medical claim.

Household practice

Modern notes on Seppankizhangu

Raw taro carries calcium oxalate needles that sting the mouth; long boiling, and souring with tamarind, is how kitchens deal with them.

The practical modern issue is Alocasia and Xanthosoma in an arbi bag, and raw juice sold as a folk story.

Seppankizhangu safety

Thoroughly cooked corm and leaf from a known kitchen variety are the ordinary exposures. Raw tissue itches the mouth because of calcium oxalate raphides. Do not eat it raw.

Ornamental Alocasia and unknown ditch aroids are not a substitute. People with kidney-stone histories sometimes limit high-oxalate foods — that is a clinical conversation.

Ecology and sourcing

It is a planted wet-bed crop. Split a corm; do not invent a forest harvest for a kitchen aroid.

Related plants

Also in Araceae

Questions about Seppankizhangu

Can I eat Seppankizhangu raw?

No. Raw tissue itches the mouth. Cook it. That is the whole safety sentence.

What is the Tamil name of Colocasia esculenta?

Seppankizhangu. The leaf is sempu in some districts.

Is every big aroid leaf Seppankizhangu plant?

No. Look for a peltate leaf and a known kitchen variety. Ornamental Alocasia is a different genus.

Sources

Educational page about a plant. It is not medical advice, not a diagnosis, and not an offer to sell. Traditional use is historical. If you need care, ask a licensed clinician. Questions: hello@meevamed.com.