and are used as a cooked leafy vegetable when older. The leaves are dried and powdered to use as a thickener in soups or as a tea. The immature fruits are also eaten, raw or cooked.

The plant is also used in herbal medicine. The leaves have been used to increase appetite, as an aid to digestion, as a laxative and as a stimulant. An infusion of the leaves has been used to reduce fever, and the roots and leaves have been used against dysentery. The seeds contain a digoxin-like