Physical, chemical and biological aspects of Dioscorea yams and potential value additions

Abstract

Dioscorea yams, which belong to the family Dioscoreaceae, have originated in African and Asian regions. At present, they are found in most of the tropical areas of the world and provide a great support to the world food production by generating a considerable amount of edible materials with minimum agricultural inputs. They have become a staple food for most of the African countries and thus numbers of value added yam products are found there. As a rich source of carbohydrates, energy, minerals, vitamins and bioactive compounds, yams have been defeating hunger and malnutrition while finding solutions for the food scarcity in African and Asian regions. Health benefits, such as anticancer properties, anti-diabetes properties, boosting retinal functions and cardiovascular disease prevention arise with yams in addition to delivering an extra value to the yams in food consumption systems of tropical regions of the world.