Obidiegwu Jude E, Lyons Jessica B, Chilaka Cynthia A
National Root Crops Research Institute, Umudike, Km 8 Umuahia-Ikot Ekpene Road, P.M.B 7006 Umuahia, Abia State, Nigeria.
Department of Molecular and Cell Biology and Innovative Genomics Institute, University of California, 142 Weill Hall #3200 Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720-3200, USA.
Foods. 2020 Sep 16;9(9):1304. doi: 10.3390/foods9091304.
The quest for a food secure and safe world has led to continuous effort toward improvements of global food and health systems. While the developed countries seem to have these systems stabilized, some parts of the world still face enormous challenges. Yam ( species) is an orphan crop, widely distributed globally; and has contributed enormously to food security especially in sub-Saharan Africa because of its role in providing nutritional benefits and income. Additionally, yam has non-nutritional components called bioactive compounds, which offer numerous health benefits ranging from prevention to treatment of degenerative diseases. Pharmaceutical application of diosgenin and dioscorin, among other compounds isolated from yam, has shown more prospects recently. Despite the benefits embedded in yam, reports on the nutritional and therapeutic potentials of yam have been fragmented and the diversity within the genus has led to much confusion. An overview of the nutritional and health importance of yam will harness the crop to meet its potential towards combating hunger and malnutrition, while improving global health. This review makes a conscious attempt to provide an overview regarding the nutritional, bioactive compositions and therapeutic potentials of yam diversity. Insights on how to increase its utilization for a greater impact are elucidated.
对一个粮食安全且安全的世界的追求促使人们不断努力改善全球粮食和卫生系统。虽然发达国家似乎已使这些系统稳定下来，但世界上一些地区仍面临巨大挑战。山药（品种）是一种小众作物，在全球广泛分布；由于其在提供营养益处和收入方面的作用，对粮食安全做出了巨大贡献，尤其是在撒哈拉以南非洲地区。此外，山药含有称为生物活性化合物的非营养成分，这些成分具有从预防到治疗退行性疾病等众多健康益处。从山药中分离出的薯蓣皂苷元、山药球蛋白等化合物在制药方面的应用最近显示出更多前景。尽管山药具有诸多益处，但关于山药营养和治疗潜力的报道却零零散散，而且该属内的多样性导致了诸多混乱。对山药营养和健康重要性的概述将有助于发挥这种作物的潜力，以应对饥饿和营养不良问题，同时改善全球健康状况。本综述有意识地尝试提供关于山药多样性的营养、生物活性成分和治疗潜力的概述。阐明了如何提高其利用率以产生更大影响的见解。
