Dioscorea esculenta (Lour.) Burkill: Uses and bioactivity

Abstract

Dioscorea esculenta (Dioscoreaceae) has been long used as an alternative food ingredient and traditional medicine. This panel aims to examine the use of D. esculenta as a food ingredient, traditional medicine and its bioactivity. The research method uses a literature review on various research reports, books, journals obtained online at Google Scholar by using the keywords D. esculenta, uses, and bioactivity D. esculenta. The tubers of D. esculenta are an alternative source of alternative carbohydrates and have been traded in traditional markets, but the supply is relatively small and decreasing. The nutritional content of tuber flour is protein (7.19%), fat (1.10%) dietary fiber (10.16%) inulin (7.49%), and total starch content (71.78%). Ethnomedicinally, D. esculenta tubers are used as antifatigue, anti-inflammatory, anti-stress, anti-spasmodic and immune. The bioactivity of D. esculenta is anti-inflammatory, anti-diabetic mellitus, anti-microbial, antioxidant, anti-fertility and anti-cancer. The D. esculenta tubers are very potential to be developed as an alternative food ingredient because they have a good glycemic index and are able to overcome diabetes mellitus.