A BRIEF REVIEW ON DIOSCOREA BULBIFERA LINN: CONSTITUENTS AND PHARMACOLOGICAL EFFECTS
*Dr. Tulika Mishra and Archana Kushwaha
ABSTRACT
Dioscorea bulbifera is a monocot, herbaceous, tuber-yielding climber invasive, wild plant belonging to the family Dioscoreaceae and has about 600 species. Dioscorea bulbifera contains basic nutritional components like starch, low fat, fibers and minerals which provide it nutritional value; consequently, it is a staple food of tribal and non-tribal populations throughout the world. This plant has great ethnomedicinal value in the local regions of the world. Due to the presence of various type of secondary metabolites (saponins, sapogenins, carotenoids, tannins, alkaloids and flavanoids) it is commercially useful in the pharmaceutical industries for production of modern drugs. This plant is also source of a very important commercially viable phytosteroid i.e. “diosgenin” (A sapogenin). It possess other biofunctional compounds like catechin, kaempferol, catechuic acid, cortisones, bafoudiosbulbins, diosbulbins, xanthins, dioscin and dioscrine etc. and other various phytoconstituents along with diosgenin. Due to this reasons, this plant has healing property and can be used to treat diabetes, cancer, microbial infections, cardiac problems, digestive abnormalities, syphilis, typhoid, goiter and throat infections. The plant extracts also shows antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antihyperlipidemic, antihelminthic and antileprosy activity.
Keywords: Dioscorea bulbifera, Herbal medicine, Ethnomedicinal, Diosgenin, Antihyperglycemic.
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