Tam bop vegetables were originally considered weeds but were found to be delicious, so they gained a lot of popularity. They are also known as lanh den, thu lu, bom bop, bum bup. The benefits of tam bop include heat dissipation, detoxification, liver cooling, acne treatment, immune support, and eye health improvement… Diabetic people, cancer patients, and people with liver disease find tam bop to be very beneficial.
However, tam bop plants and male lu lu plants have a very similar appearance and taste, so they are often confused. Moreover, in wastelands of the delta provinces, there are many wild lu lu plants. That’s why in many markets, vendors are selling lu lu leaves but mistakenly calling them tam bop.
Lu lu plants are also delicious, with a similar taste, and are difficult to distinguish from tam bop. At first glance, the leaf shape is also difficult to differentiate. That’s why many people mistake them. Lu lu plants do not have the same benefits as tam bop. Moreover, male lu lu plants contain a lot of Solanin toxins, while the leaves contain Nitrate toxins. Eating them, especially in large quantities or for sensitive individuals, can cause abdominal pain, nausea, sweating, and if mild, no significant symptoms immediately, but it is not good for the liver and can cause heatiness.
How to differentiate:
Looking at the leaf shape, the two plants are very similar, so it is difficult to differentiate them based solely on the leaves, especially if you haven’t seen the two plants side by side. But these two plants will differ in the following characteristics:
Looking at the flower structure: Male lu lu plants have flowers in clusters that grow from the top of the leaf axils. Lu lu plants form clusters of flowers. Meanwhile, tam bop flowers grow individually.
Looking at the fruit: Tam bop fruits have a round inner part covered by a lantern-like membrane, and the fruits grow individually. On the other hand, lu lu fruits have a round fruit without an outer membrane. When ripe, tam bop fruits are yellowish-red, while ripe lu lu fruits are dark purple, and lu lu fruits grow in clusters. When buying lu lu leaves at the market, you will most likely see some twigs with flowers or fruits among them. So it is very easy to differentiate them based on the shape of the fruits and flowers.
Tam bop vegetables stir-fried/soup is very nutritious. After boiling, lu lu plants can be consumed safely, but they do not have the medicinal properties of tam bop, and they can lead to liver heatiness.
Tam bop fruits are sour-sweet and are sold at a relatively high price, while lu lu fruits are bitter and have no medicinal value.
Therefore, when housewives go shopping, they should pay attention to differentiate them. Vendors sometimes cannot distinguish between these two types of plants except for experienced ones.
Ripe tam bop fruits are sold at high prices.
“Superfood Green Vegetable: More Nutritious than Meat, Cheaper than Medicine”
These wild vegetables are abundant in Vietnam during the summer and offer numerous health benefits.
