ABSTRACT
This chapter provides information on uses, folk medicine, chemistry, germplasm, distribution, ecology, cultivation, harvesting, yields, energy, and biotic factors of Waternut. Edible tubers or corms are used as a vegetable in many East Indian and Chinese dishes. Sliced, they are esteemed in Chinese soups for their crisp texture and delicious flavor. Sliced water chestnuts are one of the ingredients of chop suey in the US They are recommended, as well, in American salads and soups. Shredded water chestnuts often appear in meat and fish dishes. In China, the plant is used for abdominal pain, amenorrhea, anemia, bruises, clots, gas, hernia, inflammation, liver, malnutrition, pinkeye, and swellings. Planting is done annually in June or July. Old corms are first planted in wet mud and, when sprouted, are planted usually about 15 cm deep in fields of mud covered with some, but not too much, water.
