It is used as a vegetable in all regions of India and some parts in South Asia. It has commercial importance and is exported and used locally. The fruits are cooked with spices, or fried and sometimes eaten with meat or fish. It is propagated by underground tubers. It has small leaves, small yellow flowers, it has small, dark green, round or oval fruits. It is dioicous , which means that it has distinct male and female individual organisms, hence its name.