Alugbati

is a succulent, branched, smooth, twining herbaceous vine, several meters in length. Stems are purplish or green. Leaves are somewhat fleshy, ovate or heart-shaped, 5 to 12 centimeters long, stalked, tapering to a pointed tip with a cordate base. Spikes are axillary, solitary, 5 to 29 centimeters long. Flowers are pink, about 4 millimeters long. Fruit is fleshy, stalkless, ovoid or nearly spherical, 5 to 6 millimeters long, and purple when mature.

Uses and health benefits

Edibility / Nutrition
- Common market product, a popular leafy and stew vegetable, and a good substitute for spinach. - The green and purple cultivated varieties are preferable to the wild ones. - Both the young shoots and stems are eaten. - Excellent source of calcium and iron; good source of vitamins A, B, and C, with a high roughage value.

Folkloric
Roots are employed as rubefacient. Poultice of leaves used to reduce local swelling. Sap is applied to acne eruptions to reduce inflammation. Decoction of leaves used for its mild laxative effects. Pulped leaves applied to boils and ulcers to hasten suppuration. Sugared juice of leaves useful for catarrhal afflictions in children. Leaf-juice, mixed with butter, is soothing and cooling when applied to burns and scalds. Mucilaginous liquid obtained from the leaves and tender stalks used for habitual headaches. In Ayurveda, used for hemorrhages, skin diseases, sexual weakness, ulcers and as laxative in children and pregnant women. In Nigeria, use for fertility enhancement in women. In Antilles leaves considered good maturative as cataplasm. Malabar spinach is high in vitamin A, vitamin C, iron, and calcium. It is low in calories by volume, but high in protein per calorie. The succulent mucilage is a particularly rich source of soluble fiber. Among many other possibilities, Malabar spinach may be used to thicken soups or stirfries with garlic and chili peppers. In Bengali cuisine it is widely used to cook with Ilish fish. In Andhra Pradesh, a southern state in India, a curry of Basella and Yam is made popularly known as Kanda Bachali Koora [Yam and Basella curry]. The vegetable is used in Chinese cuisine. Its many names include flowing water vegetable. In Vietnam, particularly the north, it is cooked with crab meat, luffa and jute to make soup. In Orissa, India, it is used to make Curries and Saaga (any type of dish made from green leafy vegetables is called Saaga in Orissa). In Maharashtra,India, it is used to make bhaji.

In Africa, the mucilaginous cooked shoots are most commonly used.[3] Malabar spinach can be found at many Chinese/Vietnamese/Korean/Indian grocery stores, as well as farmers' markets. It has been shown to contain certain phenolic phytochemicals and it has antioxidant properties.