Phytochemicals nutritional and pharmacological characterization of dioscorea bulbifera

Abstract

newlineWild foods make an important contribution to tribal s diet during the food scarcity period. It not only enriches the food baskets of tribals but also used as remedies newlinefor various diseases due to the presence of potential phytochemicals. Tubers are the newlinestorage form of starchy material in subterranean stems, roots, rhizomes and corms which grow beneath of soil s surface. Dioscorea bulbifera is one of the important wild species, newlinethe tuber of which is consumed by the tribal population of central India as food, newlineparticularly in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Orissa mainly because of newlineits high content of starch. The tuber in raw form is bitter in taste and thus has been newlinesoaked overnight in water or left overnight in a stream and subjected to successive newlineboiling to remove the bitterness. The tuber is also known for its several pharmacological newlineactivities. It is good for intestinal colic, relieving dysmenorrhoea, reducing acidity, newlinerheumatoid arthritis, relieving intense inflammation in the acute phase, spasmodic newlineasthma, menopausal problems, labor pain, prevention of early miscarriage, hernia, newlinerelieving the pain of childbirth, etc. In a quest to utilize the tuber of Dioscorea bulbifera newlineas foods and medicines, an attempt has been taken in this study to investigate the newlinenutritional profile, phytochemical composition, pharmacological activity such as newlineantioxidant, anticancer and antibacterial activity, toxicity evaluation, development of newlinevalue added food products and their nutritional characterization.