The giant taro was originally domesticated in the Philippines, but are known from wild specimens to early Austronesians in Taiwan. From the Philippines, they spread outwards to the rest of Maritime Southeast Asia and eastward to Oceania where it became one of the staple crops of Pacific Islanders.[6][7] They are one of the four main species of aroids (taros) cultivated by Austronesians primarily as a source of starch, the others being Amorphophallus paeoniifolius, Colocasia esculenta, and Cyrtosperma merkusii, each with multiple cultivated varieties. Their leaves and stems are also edible if cooked thoroughly, though this is rarely done for giant taro as it contains higher amounts of raphides which cause itching.[8][9]
Indigenous Australian names included pitchu in the Burnett River (Queensland); cunjevoi (South Queensland); hakkin Rockhampton (Queensland); bargadga or nargan of the Cleveland Bay.[11]
The Yugarabul word for the plant, bundal,[12] is also where the name of the suburb Boondall is derived from.
It is edible if cooked for a long time but its sap irritates the skin due to calcium oxalate crystals, or raphides which are needle like.[13] Plants harvested later will have more raphides.[14]Alocasia species are commonly found in marketplaces in Samoa and Tonga and other parts of Polynesia. The varieties recognized in Tahiti are the Ape oa, haparu, maota, and uahea. The Hawaiian saying: ʻAi no i ka ʻape he maneʻo no ka nuku (The eater of ʻape will have an itchy mouth) means "there will be consequences for partaking of something bad".[15]
The giant heart-shaped leaves make impromptu umbrellas in tropical downpours.
Anthelme Thozet in 1866 documented the method of preparation: "The young bulbs, of a light rose colour inside, found growing on large old rhizomes, are scraped, divided into two parts, and put under hot ashes for about half an hour. When sufficiently baked, they are then pounded by hard strokes between two stones – a large one, Wallarie, and a small one, Kondola. All the pieces which do not look farinaceous, but watery when broken, are thrown away; the others, by strokes of the Kondola, are united by twos or threes, and put into the fire again ; they are then taken out and pounded together in the form of a cake, which is again returned to the fire and carefully turned occasionally. This operation is repeated eight or ten times, and when the hakkin, which is now of a green-greyish colour, begins to harden, it is fit for use."[16]: 14
^ abOsmond, Meredith (1998). "Horticultural practices"(PDF). In Ross, Malcolm; Pawley, Andrew; Osmond, Meredith (eds.). The lexicon of Proto Oceanic : The culture and environment of ancestral Oceanic society. Vol. 1: Material Culture. Pacific Linguistics. pp. 115–142. doi:10.15144/PL-C152.115.
^Watson, F. J. Vocabularies of four representative tribes of South Eastern Queensland : with grammatical notes thereof and some notes on manners and customs : Also, a list of aboriginal place names and their derivations. [Royal Geographical Society of Australia [Brisbane, Queensland]. OCLC930955155.
^Susan Scott; Craig Thomas (2009). Poisonous Plants of Paradise: First Aid and Medical Treatment of Injuries from Hawaii's Plants. University of Hawaii Press.
^Sanderson, Helen (2005). Prance, Ghillean; Nesbitt, Mark (eds.). The Cultural History of Plants. Routledge. p. 69. ISBN0415927463.
^Pukui, Mary Kawena (1986). 'Ōlelo No'eau, Hawaiian Proverbs and Sayings. Honolulu: Bishop Museum Press.
