Oxalates in Taro (Kalo)
Hawaiian Taro Leaf can be poisonous (If not cooked for 24 hours in an imu)
Hawaiian taro leaf is very full of oxalates, a poisonous crystal that causes 70% of kidney stones. Kidney stones can cause kidney failure, then death. Xanthosoma taro leaf has less oxalates and is eaten all over the world. It is steamed or boiled, somtimes squeezed and re-boiled. It may be the solution to the problem of kidney failure in Hana.
"An excess of oxalates may lead to the formation of renal calculi and renal failure" (p.846 Mosby's Medical, Nursing, and Allied Health Dictionary)
