kudzu

File:Kudzu seedpods 6580.JPG

The name kudzu describes one or more species in the genus Pueraria that are closely related, and some of them are considered to be varieties rather than full species. The morphological differences between the subspecies of P. montana are subtle; they can breed with each other, and introduced kudzu populations in the United States apparently have ancestry from more than one of the subspecies.{{Cite journal| title = Characterizing Specimens of Kudzu and Related Taxa with RAPD's | jstor = 4034173 |author1=D. K. Jewett |author2=C. J. Jiang |author3=K. O. Britton |author4=J. H. Sun |author5=J. Tang | journal = Castanea | volume = 68 | issue = 3 |date=1 September 2003| pages = 254–260 | issn = 0008-7475 }}{{Cite journal| doi = 10.1111/j.1365-3180.2005.00462.x | title = Genetic diversity of Pueraria lobata (kudzu) and closely related taxa as revealed by inter-simple sequence repeat analysis | first6 = X-J | last6 = Ge | first5 = W H | last5 = Ye | first4 = K O | last4 = Britton | first3 = D K | last3 = Jewett | first2 = Z-C | year = 2005 | last2 = Li | last1 = Sun | first1 = J H | journal = Weed Research | volume = 45 | page = 255 | issue = 4 | bibcode = 2005WeedR..45..255S }} They are:

• P. montana{{Cite web|url=http://www.theplantlist.org/tpl1.1/search?q=pueraria+montana+chinensis|title=Varieties on The Plant List}}
• Pueraria montana var. chinensis (Ohwi) Sanjappa & Pradeep (= P. chinensis)
• Pueraria montana var. lobata (Willd.) Sanjappa & Pradeep (= P. lobata)
• Pueraria montana var. thomsonii (Benth.) Wiersema ex D.B. Ward (= P. thomsonii)
• P. edulis
• P. phaseoloides – proposed to be moved to Neustanthus

Various other species in Pueraria sensu stricto are also known as "kudzu" with an adjective, but they are not as widely cultivated or introduced.{{citation needed|date=November 2024}}

Kudzu has been referred to as "quasi-wild" due to its long history of cultivation, selective breeding into various cultivars, and subsequent return to wild conditions. Some researchers suggest that humans are the main predator of kudzu in its native range, and that human use and cultivation of kudzu both contributes to its success as an invasive species and is a form of biological control for kudzu.{{cite journal |last1=Li |first1=Zhenyu |last2=Dong |first2=Quan |last3=Albright |first3=Thomas |last4=Guo |first4=Qinfeng |title=Natural and human dimensions of a quasi-wild species: The case of kudzu |journal=Biological Invasions |date=2011 |volume=13 |issue=10 |pages=2167–2179|doi=10.1007/s10530-011-0042-7 |bibcode=2011BiInv..13.2167L |s2cid=14948770 }}

{{More citations needed section|date=May 2020}}

Kudzu spreads by vegetative reproduction via stolons (runners) that root at the nodes to form new plants and by rhizomes.{{Cite web |last=North Carolina Cooperative Extension |title=Pueraria montana var. lobata |url=https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/plants/pueraria-montana-var-lobata/ |access-date=2022-05-03 |website=Gardener Plant Toolbox}} Kudzu also spreads by seeds, which are contained in pods and mature in the autumn, although this is rare.{{Cite web |title=Kudzu – New York Invasive Species Information |url=http://nyis.info/invasive_species/kudzu/ |access-date=2022-02-28 |language=en-US}} One or two viable seeds are produced per cluster of pods. The hard-coated seeds can remain viable for several years, and can successfully germinate only when soil is persistently soggy for 5–7 days, with temperatures above 20 °C (68 °F).https://cefs.ncsu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2021_03_19_Kudzu.pdf?x77888 Weed Focus: Kudzu NCSU

File:Flowering kudzu.jpg flowers]]

Once germinated, saplings must be kept in a well-drained medium that retains high moisture. During this stage of growth, kudzu must receive as much sunlight as possible.{{Cite web |title=SPECIES: Pueraria montana var. lobata |url=https://www.fs.usda.gov/database/feis/plants/vine/puemonl/all.html |access-date=2024-06-09 |website=www.fs.usda.gov}} Kudzu saplings are sensitive to mechanical disturbance and are damaged by chemical fertilizers. They do not tolerate long periods of shade or high water tables. Kudzu is able to withstand environments ranging from sunny to shady upon reaching its mature stage; however, forest edges with greater light availability are optimal.{{Cite journal |last1=Forseth |first1=Irwin N. |last2=Innis |first2=Anne F. |date=2004 |title=Kudzu ( Pueraria montana ): History, Physiology, and Ecology Combine to Make a Major Ecosystem Threat |url=http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/07352680490505150 |journal=Critical Reviews in Plant Sciences |language=en |volume=23 |issue=5 |pages=401–413 |doi=10.1080/07352680490505150 |bibcode=2004CRvPS..23..401F |issn=0735-2689|url-access=subscription }}

File:KudzuPlants.JPG, Georgia]]

Kudzu's environmental and ecological damage results from its outcompeting other species for a resource. Kudzu competes with native flora for light, and acts to block their access to this vital resource by growing over them and shading them with its leaves. Native plants may then die as a result.{{cite book|last1=Cain|first1=Michael L.|last2=Bowman|first2=William D.|last3=Hacker|first3=Sally D.|title=Ecology|publisher=Sinauer Associates, Inc.|year=2011|page=246}}File:Kudzu graveyard (40580p).jpg, NY]]When kudzu invades an ecosystem, it makes the leaf litter more labile, thereby lessening the carbon sequestration ability of the soil.{{cite journal |title=Plant litter chemistry and microbial priming regulate the accrual, composition and stability of soil carbon in invaded ecosystems |first1=Mioko |last1=Tamura |first2=Nishanth |last2=Tharayil |journal=New Phytologist |doi=10.1111/nph.12795 |volume=203 |issue=1 |pages=110–124 |date=July 2014 |pmid=24720813|doi-access=free |bibcode=2014NewPh.203..110T }}

{{See also|Kudzu in the United States}}

Kudzu is an infamous weed in the United States, where it can be found in 32 states. It is common along roadsides and other disturbed areas throughout most of the southeast,{{cite web|title=SPECIES: Pueraria montana var. lobata|url=http://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/plants/vine/puemonl/all.html|publisher=US Forest Service - United States Department of Agriculture|access-date=29 September 2015}} as far north as rural areas of Pulaski County, Illinois, and along the East Coast in sparser populations as north as New York City Metropolitan Area and Boston, Massachusetts.{{cite web|title=iNaturalist: Pueraria montana|url=https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/62671-Pueraria-montana|publisher=iNaturalist|access-date=2 June 2025}} The vine has become a sore point in Southern US culture. Estimates of its rate of spreading differ wildly; it has been described as spreading at the rate of {{convert|150000|acre|km2|abbr=on}} annually,{{cite web| url= https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090719185107.htm | title=Controlling Kudzu With Naturally Occurring Fungus | website=ScienceDaily | date=20 July 2009 | access-date=2009-07-20}} although in 2015 the United States Forest Service estimated the rate to be only {{convert|2,500|acre|km2|abbr=on}} per year.{{cite magazine|author=Bill Finch|title=Legend of the Green Monster|magazine=Smithsonian Magazine|volume= 46|number= 5|date=September 2015|page=19|url=http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/true-story-kudzu-vine-ate-south-180956325/}}

A small patch of kudzu was discovered in 2009 in Leamington, Ontario, the second-warmest growing region of Canada after south coastal British Columbia.{{cite web |date=27 September 2009 |title=Kudzu: Invasion of the killer vines or a tempest in a teapot? |url=http://ckdp.ca/kudzu-invasion-of-the-killer-vines-or-a-tempest-in-a-teapot/ |access-date=2010-04-20 |publisher=Chatham-Kent Daily Post}}{{cite news |last=Wingrove |first=Josh |date=24 September 2009 |title='Vine that ate the South' has landed in the Great White North |newspaper=The Globe and Mail |url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/vine-that-ate-the-south-has-landed-in-the-great-white-north/article4287178/ |access-date=14 October 2013}}File:Photograph of dairy cows grazing on kudzu on the farm of G.A. Herford, Columbia County, Georgia, 1952-1957? - DPLA - b3294bc96a065665a0517370b52f8a6a.jpg, {{Circa|1950s}}]]

Kudzu was introduced from Japan into the United States at the Japanese pavilion in the 1876 Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia. It was also shown at the Chicago World's Fair.{{Cite web |last=Crockett Peters |first=Clinton |date=2017-08-29 |title=The Miracle Vine |url=https://www.theawl.com/2017/08/kudzu-the-miracle-vine/ |access-date=2022-05-03 |website=The Awl |language=en}} It remained a garden plant until the Dust Bowl era (1930s–1940s), when the vine was marketed as a way for farmers to stop soil erosion. The new Soil Conservation Service grew seventy million kudzu seedlings and paid $8 an acre ({{Inflation|US|8|1940|fmt=eq}}) to anyone who would sow the vine. Road and rail builders planted kudzu to stabilize steep slopes. Farmer and journalist Channing Cope, dubbed "kudzu kid" in a 1949 Time profile, popularised it in the South as a fix for eroded soils. He started the Kudzu Club of America, which, by 1943, had 20,000 members. The club aimed to plant {{convert|8|e6acre|km2}} across the South. Cultivation peaked at over {{convert|1000000|acre|km2|abbr=on|spell=in}} by 1945.Kudzu: The Vine that Ate the South; PorterBriggs.com http://porterbriggs.com/the-vine-that-ate-the-south/ {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140608025052/http://porterbriggs.com/the-vine-that-ate-the-south/ |date=8 June 2014 }} Once Soil Service payments ended, much of the kudzu was destroyed as farmers turned the land over to more profitable uses. The Soil Conservation Service stopped promoting kudzu altogether by the 1950s. File:La Habana, plantas (1983) 03.jpg, 1983]]

Kudzu's ongoing mythos as a mile-a-minute invader is likely due to its visibility coating trees at wooded roadsides, thriving in the sunshine at the forest edge. Despite kudzu's notoriety, Asian privet and invasive roses have each proved to be greater threats in the United States.

In Europe, kudzu has been included since 2016 on the list of Invasive Alien Species of Union concern (the Union list).{{Cite web|title=List of Invasive Alien Species of Union concern - Environment - European Commission|url=https://ec.europa.eu/environment/nature/invasivealien/list/index_en.htm|access-date=2021-07-27|website=ec.europa.eu}} This means that this species cannot be imported, cultivated, transported, commercialized, planted, or intentionally released into the environment anywhere in the European Union.{{Cite web|title=REGULATION (EU) No 1143/2014 of the European parliament and of the council of 22 October 2014 on the prevention and management of the introduction and spread of invasive alien species|url=https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:32014R1143&from=EN}}

There are only some kudzu populations in certain regions of Italy and Switzerland. In Switzerland it occurs almost exclusively in Ticino, where it has been found in the wild since at least 1956.{{cite web |title=Pueraria lobata (Willd.) Ohwi |url=https://www.infoflora.ch/de/flora/pueraria-lobata.html |website=info flora – National Data and Information Center on the Swiss Flora |access-date=16 July 2023 |format=PDF |date=14 July 2023}} Most outbreaks are concentrated around Lake Lugano and Lake Maggiore, where the climate (hot summers and mild winters) encourages its growth. However, outbreaks in peripheral areas such as the Onsernone Valley and Lower Leventina are likely due to the illegal disposal of plant waste. A plan is currently in place to reduce and eventually eradicate the kudzu population in Ticino.{{cite web |last=Moretti |first=Giorgio |title=Kudzu: where to from here? |url=https://www.waldwissen.net/en/forestry/forest-protection/invasive-species/kudzu-where-to-from-here |website=waldwissen.net |access-date=16 July 2023 |date=12 December 2021}}

During World War II, kudzu was introduced to Vanuatu and Fiji by United States Armed Forces to serve as camouflage for equipment and has become a major weed.{{cite book|last=Walker|first=Timothy|title=Plant Conservation: Why it matters and how it works|year=2013|publisher=Timber Press|isbn=978-1604692600|page=157}}

In Australia, Kudzu is also becoming a problem in Queensland, Northern Territory and New South Wales.{{Cite journal | doi=10.1111/epp.12172|title = Ecology and distribution of the Southeast Asian invasive liana Kudzu, Pueraria lobata (Fabaceae), in Southern Switzerland| journal=EPPO Bulletin| volume=44| issue=3| pages=490–501|year = 2014|last1 = Gigon|first1 = A.| last2=Pron| first2=S.| last3=Buholzer| first3=S.}}{{cite web|title=Kudzu, Kudzu Vine (Pueraria lobata (Willd.) Ohwi)|url=https://weeds.org.au/profiles/kudzu-vine/|access-date=30 December 2024}}

In New Zealand, kudzu was declared an "unwanted organism" and was added to the Biosecurity New Zealand register in 2002.{{cite journal|date=1 August 2002|title=Kudzu vine an unwanted organism|journal=Biosecurity|issue=37|issn=1174-4618|url=http://planet.botany.uwc.ac.za/nisl/Biosecurity/biosecurity-37.pdf|last=Gill|first=George|access-date=6 June 2017|archive-date=10 December 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171210020152/http://planet.botany.uwc.ac.za/nisl/Biosecurity/biosecurity-37.pdf|url-status=dead}}

Destroying the full underground system, which can be extremely large and deep, is not necessary for successful long-term control of kudzu. Killing or removing the kudzu root crown{{cite web|url=http://www.kokudzu.com/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070917144730/http://www.kokudzu.com/ |archive-date=2007-09-17 |title=Kudzu Control Without Chemicals|access-date=20 July 2022|publisher=kokudzu.com|year=2007}} and all rooting runners is sufficient. The root crown is a fibrous knob of tissue that sits on top of the roots. Crowns form from multiple vine nodes that root to the ground, and range from pea- to basketball-sized. These crowns and attached tuberous roots can weigh 400 or 500 pounds (180 to 225 kilograms) and extend up to twenty feet (six meters) into the ground.Diane Hoots and Juanita Baldwin, "Kudsu - The Vine to Love or Hate, Kodak, Tennessee, Suntop press, (1996) Page 5 The age of the crowns is correlated to how deep they are in the ground. Nodes and crowns are the source of all kudzu vines, and roots cannot produce vines. If any portion of a root crown remains after attempted removal, the kudzu plant may still grow back.{{citation needed|date=October 2023}}

Mechanical methods of control involve cutting off crowns from roots, usually just below ground level. This immediately kills the plant. Cutting off the above-ground vines is not sufficient for an immediate kill. Destroying all removed crown material is necessary. Buried crowns can regenerate into healthy kudzu. Transporting crowns in soil removed from a kudzu infestation is one common way that kudzu unexpectedly spreads and shows up in new locations.{{citation needed|date=October 2023}}

Close mowing every week, regular heavy grazing for many successive years, or repeated cultivation may be effective, as this serves to deplete root reserves. If done in the spring, cutting off vines must be repeated. Regrowth appears to exhaust the plant's stored carbohydrate reserves. Harvested kudzu can be fed to livestock, burned, or composted.{{citation needed|date=October 2023}}

In the United States, the city of Chattanooga, Tennessee, undertook a trial program in 2010 using goats and llamas to graze on the plant. Similar efforts to reduce widespread nuisance kudzu growth have also been undertaken in the cities of Winston-Salem, North Carolina,{{cite web|url= http://www.wxii12.com/news/24828912/detail.html|title= Winston-Salem Using Goats To Attack Problem Kudzu Vines|access-date= 2010-09-08|publisher= Wxii12.com|date= 2010-08-31|first= Betsy|last= Bramlett|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120306092331/http://www.wxii12.com/news/24828912/detail.html|archive-date=2012-03-06}} and Tallahassee, Florida.{{cite web|last=Neofotis|first=Peter|title= Kudzu (Pueraria montana)|url=http://www.columbia.edu/itc/cerc/danoff-burg/invasion_bio/inv_spp_summ/Pueraria_montana.html|work=Introduced Species Summary Project|publisher=Columbia University|access-date=17 September 2011}}

Prescribed burning is used on old extensive infestations to remove vegetative cover and promote seed germination for removal or treatment. While fire is not an effective way to kill kudzu, equipment, such as a skid loader, can later remove crowns and kill kudzu with minimal disturbance or erosion of soil.{{cite web|url=http://www.nwcb.wa.gov/weed_info/Pueraria_lobata.html|title=Written Findings of the State Noxious Weed Control Board|access-date=20 August 2007|publisher=Washington State Noxious Weed Control Board|year=2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110927090123/http://www.nwcb.wa.gov/weed_info/Pueraria_lobata.html|archive-date=27 September 2011}}

A systemic herbicide, for example, glyphosate,{{Cite web|url=http://www.se-eppc.org/manual/kudzu.html|title=Southeast Exotic Pest Plant Council Invasive Plant Manual}} triclopyr, or picloram,{{Cite web|url=http://mdc.mo.gov/landwater-care/plant-management/invasive-plant-management/kudzu|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110526102822/http://mdc.mo.gov/landwater-care/plant-management/invasive-plant-management/kudzu|url-status=dead|title=Missouri Department of Conservation - Kudzu|archivedate=26 May 2011}} can be applied directly on cut stems, which is an effective means of transporting the herbicide into the kudzu's extensive root system.{{Cite web|url=http://www.nps.gov/plants/alien/fact/pumo1.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050527121722/http://www.nps.gov/plants/alien/fact/pumo1.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=27 May 2005|title=National Park Service - Kudzu}} Herbicides can be used after other methods of control, such as mowing, grazing, or burning, which can allow for an easier application of the chemical to the weakened plants.{{Cite web |url=http://www.bugwood.org/crp/kudzu.html |title=Bugwood Network (Center for Invasive Species and Ecosystem Health) |access-date=27 November 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130308055202/http://www.bugwood.org/crp/kudzu.html |archive-date=8 March 2013 |url-status=dead }} In large-scale forestry infestations, soil-active herbicides have been shown to be highly effective.

After initial herbicidal treatment, follow-up treatments and monitoring are usually necessary, depending on how long the kudzu has been growing in an area. Up to 10 years of supervision may be needed after the initial chemical placement to make sure the plant does not return.{{cite web|url=http://www.kokudzu.com/Shared/PDF/HerbicideTreatmentsForKudzu.pdf|author=Matt Nespeca|date=August 2007|publisher=kokudzu.com|title=Kudzu Control Methods and Strategies|access-date=6 June 2017|archive-date=25 June 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160625080857/http://kokudzu.com/Shared/PDF/HerbicideTreatmentsForKudzu.pdf|url-status=dead}}

Since 1998, the United States' Agricultural Research Service has experimented with using the fungus Myrothecium verrucaria as a biologically based herbicide against kudzu. A diacetylverrucarol spray based on M. verrucaria works under a variety of conditions (including the absence of dew), causes minimal injury to many of the other woody plants in kudzu-infested habitats, and takes effect quickly enough that kudzu treated with it in the morning starts showing evidence of damage by midafternoon. Initial formulations of the herbicide produced toxic levels of other trichothecenes as byproducts, though the ARS discovered that growing M. verrucaria in a fermenter on a liquid diet (instead of a solid) limited or eliminated the problem.

Kudzu has been used as a form of erosion control and to enhance the soil. As a legume, it increases the nitrogen in the soil by a symbiotic relationship with nitrogen-fixing bacteria.{{cite web|url=http://www.a-spi.org/tp/tp55.htm|title=Kudzu in Appalachia|access-date=20 August 2007|publisher=Appalachia -- Science in the Public Interest|year=2000|author=Amanda Allen|work=ASPI Technical Series TP 55|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070928071603/http://www.a-spi.org/tp/tp55.htm|archive-date=28 September 2007}} Its deep taproots also transfer valuable minerals from the subsoil to the topsoil, thereby improving the topsoil. In the deforested section of the central Amazon Basin in Brazil, it has been used for improving the soil pore-space in clay latosols, thus freeing even more water for plants than in the soil prior to deforestation.{{cite journal|title=Changes in soil pore-space distribution following deforestation and revegetation: An example from the Central Amazon Basin, Brazil |year=1991|author1=Chauvel, A |author2=Grimaldi, M |author3=Tessier, D |journal=Forest Ecology and Management |doi=10.1016/0378-1127(91)90147-N |volume=38 |issue=3–4 |pages=259–271|bibcode=1991ForEM..38..259C |url=http://horizon.documentation.ird.fr/exl-doc/pleins_textes/divers16-03/38584.pdf }}

Kudzu can be used by grazing animals, as it is high in quality as a forage and palatable to livestock. It can be grazed until frost and even slightly after. Kudzu had been used in the southern United States specifically to feed goats on land that had limited resources. Kudzu hay typically has a 22–23% crude protein content and over 60% total digestible nutrient value. The quality of the leaves decreases as vine content increases relative to the leaf content. Kudzu also has low forage yields despite its rate of growth, yielding around two to four tons of dry matter per acre annually. It is also difficult to bale due to its vining growth and its slowness in shedding water. This makes it necessary to place kudzu hay under sheltered protection after being baled. Fresh kudzu is readily consumed by all types of grazing animals, but frequent grazing over three to four years can ruin even established stands. Thus, kudzu only serves well as a grazing crop on a temporary basis.{{cite web|url=http://www.aces.edu/pubs/docs/A/ANR-0065/|title=Kudzu in Alabama: History, Uses, and Control|access-date=20 August 2007|publisher=Alabama Cooperative Extension System|year=1999|author1=John Everest |author2=James Miller |author3=Donald Ball |author4=Mike Patterson|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120616073734/http://www.aces.edu/pubs/docs/A/ANR-0065/|archive-date=16 June 2012 }}

Kudzu fiber has long been used for fiber art and basketry. The long runners which propagate the kudzu fields and the larger vines which cover trees make excellent weaving material. Some basketmakers use the material green. Others use it after splitting it in half, allowing it to dry and then rehydrating it using hot water. Both traditional and contemporary basketry artists use kudzu.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jSQzR6_h9yEC&q=kudzu+basket|title=The book of kudzu: a culinary & healing guide|author1=William Shurtleff |author2=Akiko Aoyagi |publisher=Soyinfo Center|year=1977|isbn=9780394420684}}

File:Kudzu basket hen.jpg

Kudzu contains isoflavones, including puerarin (about 60% of the total isoflavones), daidzein, daidzin (structurally related to genistein), mirificin, and salvianolic acid, among numerous others identified.{{cite journal|pmid=28353641|pmc=6154678|year=2017|last1=Wang|first1=F. R.|title=Rapid Determination of 30 Polyphenols in Tongmai Formula, a Combination of Puerariae Lobatae Radix, Salviae Miltiorrhizae Radix et Rhizoma, and Chuanxiong Rhizoma, via Liquid Chromatography-Tandem Mass Spectrometry|journal=Molecules|volume=22|issue=4|pages=545|last2=Zhang|first2=Y|last3=Yang|first3=X. B.|last4=Liu|first4=C. X.|last5=Yang|first5=X. W.|last6=Xu|first6=W|last7=Liu|first7=J. X.|doi=10.3390/molecules22040545|doi-access=free}} In traditional Chinese medicine, where it is known as gé gēn (gegen), kudzu is considered one of the 50 fundamental herbs thought to have therapeutic effects, although there is no high-quality clinical research to indicate it has any activity or therapeutic use in humans.{{cite web|url=https://www.drugs.com/npc/kudzu.html|title=Kudzu|publisher=Drugs.com|date=2017|access-date=28 June 2017}}{{cite web|url=https://www.mskcc.org/cancer-care/integrative-medicine/herbs/kudzu|title=Kudzu|publisher=Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center|date=2017|access-date=28 June 2017}}{{Refn|See, however, Zhang, Y., Kong, W. N., & Chai, X. Q. (2018).|group=note}} Compounds of icariin, astragalus, and puerarin mitigates iron overload in the cerebral cortex of mice with Alzheimer's disease.{{Cite journal |last1=Zhang |first1=Yu |last2=Kong |first2=Wei-Na |last3=Chai |first3=Xi-Qing |date=Apr 2018 |title=Compound of icariin, astragalus, and puerarin mitigates iron overload in the cerebral cortex of Alzheimer's disease mice |journal=Neural Regeneration Research |language=en-US |volume=13 |issue=4 |pages=731–736 |doi=10.4103/1673-5374.230302 |pmid=29722328 |pmc=5950686 |s2cid=19158410 |issn=1673-5374 |doi-access=free }} Adverse effects may occur if kudzu is taken by people with hormone-sensitive cancer or those taking tamoxifen, antidiabetic medications, or methotrexate.File:KudzuLeaves.JPG]]

The roots contain starch, which has traditionally been used as a food ingredient in East and Southeast Asia. In Vietnam, the starch, called bột sắn dây, is flavoured with pomelo oil and then used as a drink in the summer. In Korea, the plant root is made into chikcha (칡차; "arrowroot tea"), used in traditional medicine, and processed starch used for culinary purposes such as primary ingredient for naengmyeon (칡냉면). In Japan, the plant is known as kuzu and the starch named kuzuko. Kuzuko is used in dishes including kuzumochi, mizu manjū, and kuzuyu. It also serves as a thickener for sauces, and can be a substitute for cornstarch.{{cite book|last1=Shurtleff|first1=William|last2=Aoyagi|first2=Akiko|title=The Book of Kudzu: A Culinary & Healing Guide|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jSQzR6_h9yEC|year=1977|publisher=Soyinfo Center|isbn=978-0-394-42068-4|page=9}}

File:2010 Kuzumochi(Kudzu starch cake) by Sanda-Minoya.jpg, a Japanese pudding]]

The flowers are used to make a jelly that tastes similar to grape jelly.{{cite book |last1=Marchese |first1=C. Marina |title=The Honey Connoisseur |last2=Flottum |first2=Kim |publisher=Black Dog & Leventhal |year=2013 |isbn=9781603763325 |pages=84–85}} Roots, flowers, and leaves of kudzu show antioxidant activity that suggests food uses.{{cite web|url=http://sun.library.msstate.edu/ETD-db/theses/available/etd-03292010-130857/|title=Determination of antioxidant and total phenolic content of Pueraria lobata and evaluation of novel food products containing kudzu|author=Sandra Lynn Burney|year=2010|publisher=Mississippi State University|access-date=28 November 2011|archive-date=16 June 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200616034230/http://sun.library.msstate.edu/ETD-db/theses/available/etd-03292010-130857/|url-status=dead}} Nearby bee colonies may forage on kudzu nectar during droughts as a last resort, producing a low-viscosity red or purple honey that tastes of grape jelly or bubblegum.

Kudzu has also been used for centuries in East Asia in folk medicine using herbal teas and tinctures.{{cite magazine|magazine=Smithsonian Magazine|url=http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/kudzu-love-it-or-run-68095358/|title= Kudzu: Love It or Run|date = 30 September 2000|author=Doug Stewart|accessdate=21 June 2021}} Kudzu powder is used in Japan to make an herbal tea called kuzuyu. Kakkonto ({{cjkv|c=葛根湯|p=gégēntāng|j=葛根湯|r=kakkontō|l=Kudzu Root Soup}}) is a herbal drink with its origin in traditional Chinese medicine, intended for people with various mild illnesses such as headache.

Kudzu fiber, known as ko-hemp,{{Cite web|url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ko-hemp|title=Definition of KO-HEMP|website=Merriam-Webster}} is traditionally used to make clothing and paper,{{Cite journal| title = Kudzu (Pueraria lobata (Willd.) Ohwi) | author = Larry W. Mitich | journal = Weed Technology | volume = 14 | issue = 1 | date = Jan–Mar 2000 | pages = 231–235 | doi = 10.1614/0890-037X(2000)014[0231:KPLWO]2.0.CO;2 | jstor = 3988532 | s2cid = 86120103 }} and has also been investigated for industrial-scale use.{{Cite journal| title = Kudzu (Pueraria Lobata): Potential agricultural and industrial resource | journal = Economic Botany | issn = 1874-9364 | volume = 33 | issue = 4 |date = October 1979| doi = 10.1007/BF02858336 | pages = 400–412 |author1=Robert D. Tanner |author2=S. Shahid Hussain |author3=Lindsey A. Hamilton |author4=Frederick T. Wolf | bibcode = 1979EcBot..33..400T | s2cid = 2680987 }}{{Cite journal| title = The effect of fermentation (retting) time and harvest time on kudzu (Pueraria lobata) fiber strength | journal = Applied Biochemistry and Biotechnology | issn = 1559-0291 | volume = 57–58 | issue = 1 | date = March 1996 | doi = 10.1007/BF02941690 | pages = 75–84 |author1=Sibel Uludag |author2=Veara Loha |author3=Ales Prokop |author4=Robert D. Tanner | s2cid = 189908496 }} Kudzu fiber is a bast fiber similar to hemp and linen and has been used for clothing in China for at least 6,000 years and in Japan for at least 1,500 years. In ancient China, kudzu was one of three main clothing and textile materials, with silk and ramie being the other two.

Kudzu is still currently used in Japan, primarily to weave {{transliteration|ja|obi}} worn in the summer.{{cite web | url=https://www.motoji.co.jp/blogs/artists-origins/kudzufu | title=静岡県・葛布（くずふ） }}

It may become a valuable asset for the production of cellulosic ethanol.Richard G. Lugar, R. James Woolsey. The New Petroleum. Foreign Affairs. 1999. Vol. 78, No 1. p. 88. In the Southern United States, kudzu is used to make soaps, lotions, and compost.{{cite web|url=http://www.dukeemployees.com/offthewall2.shtml|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240621013954/https://www.dukeemployees.com/offthewall2.shtml|archive-date=21 June 2024|title=If You Can't Beat Kudzu, Join It|access-date=20 August 2007|publisher=Duke Energy Employee Advocate|year=2003|author=Jeffrey Collins|work=Off the Wall}}

• Kudzu bug
• Kudzu tea
• Kudzu powder

{{reflist|group=note}}

{{Reflist}}

• This article was based in part on content from public domain web pages from the United States National Park Service and the United States Bureau of Land Management

{{Commons|Pueraria montana|Kudzu}}

• {{cite web|url=https://www.invasivespeciesinfo.gov/profile/kudzu|title=Species Profile - Kudzu (Pueraria montana var. lobata)|publisher=National Invasive Species Information Center, United States National Agricultural Library}}
• {{cite web|url=https://www.ontarioinvasiveplants.ca/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/unwantedlettersKudzuPRINT1.pdf|title=Kudzu Vine - One of Ontario's Most Unwanted Invasive Plant Species|publisher=Ontario Invasive Plant Council}}
• {{cite book|url=http://d.lib.ncsu.edu/collections/catalog/ua100_012-002-hb0002-003-000|title=Kudzu in Rotation with Corn and Small Grain|publisher=NCSU College of Agriculture and Life Sciences|year=1953|author1=T. L. Copley|author2=Luke A. Forrest}}
• [https://www.motoji.co.jp/blogs/artists-origins/kudzufu Artists and Origins, Kudzu-fu]. Ginza Motoji

Category:Edible thickening agents

Category:Japanese cuisine

Category:Plants used in traditional Chinese medicine

Category:Fiber plants

Category:Pueraria

Category:Starch

Category:Plant common names

Category:Flora invasive in North America