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Plant Source Foods
Published in Chuong Pham-Huy, Bruno Pham Huy, Food and Lifestyle in Health and Disease, 2022
Chuong Pham-Huy, Bruno Pham Huy
Yam (Dioscorea sp.) is an herbaceous perennial plant of the monocotyledonous family Dioscoreaceae. There are many different varieties of yams. They are cultivated for the consumption of their starchy tubers and are the staple food in West Africa, Southeast Asia, Oceania, and the Caribbean regions (62). Yam is considered to be the most nutritious of the tropical root crops. It contains about four times as much protein as cassava, and is the only major root crop that exceeds rice in protein content (62). Yam is rich in amino acids especially sulfur-containing amino acids like cysteine and methionine. Overall, essential amino acid content is higher in yam than in sweet potato. Yam is also a good source of vitamins A and C, and of fiber and minerals, except calcium. Yam is low in antinutrients such as oxalate, phytate and trypsin inhibitor (62). Yam tubers have various bioactive components, namely, mucin, dioscin, dioscorin, allantoin, polyphenols, choline, diosgenin, and vitamins such as carotenoids and tocopherols (58). Mucilage of yam tuber contains soluble glycoprotein and dietary fiber.
Functional Properties of Milk Yam (Ipomoea Digitata L.)
Published in Megh R. Goyal, Hafiz Ansar Rasul Suleria, Ramasamy Harikrishnan, The Role of Phytoconstitutents in Health Care, 2020
K. M. Vidya, N. S. Sonia, P. C. Jessykutty
Satveda herbs Ltd. [91] is selling Vidarikanda powder, a micronized powder potentiated with Vidari’s decoction as a dietary supplement with different therapeutic claims, such as: for men and it helps in healthy, semen production; and in females, it helps in healthy menstruation and lactation. In both sexes, it supports fertility and vitality. Also, it is rejuvenative, immune booster, anti-aging, improves complexion, and so on. Hamdard Laboratories in Pakistan is also selling milk yam products under the brand names, Habb-e-Asgand and Sharbat Mufarreh Muqawwi-e-Qalb. They notified that excessive intake of milk yam is supposed to be harmful for people with warm temperament [22].
Traditional and Local Knowledge Systems in the Caribbean: Jamaica as a Case Study
Published in David R. Katerere, Wendy Applequist, Oluwaseyi M. Aboyade, Chamunorwa Togo, Traditional and Indigenous Knowledge for the Modern Era, 2019
In order to feed the rapidly growing African workforce on European plantations, the transatlantic slave trade also saw the widespread transport of African and other Old World plants, and the establishment of provision gardens or grounds, areas of land where plantation owners allowed slaves to cultivate plants for subsistence (Carney and Rosomoff 2009). Yam, for example, a preferred food of Africans, proved more accessible and sustainable than European cereals. Yams thus became vital to the provision grounds. They were less demanding on the soil than cereal crops, and their long growth and low maintenance made them ideal for Africans who often had to travel miles to reach them (Parry 1955, Carney and Rosomoff 2009, Beckford et al. 2011, DeLoughrey 2011). The provision grounds were on the borderline of the estates, often in the foothills, but as the number of Africans increased to meet the increasing demand for sugar, the provision grounds were pushed further into the hills (Parry 1955). Thus, the use of pantropical plants of value for food, medicine, cordage, and dyes, and for the practice of syncretic religions, played a significant role in the survival of African-Jamaicans. Provision grounds were also a critical economic factor in the process of emancipation with the transition to self-sufficient rural communities (Parry 1955).
Fungal and mycotoxin occurrence, affecting factors, and prevention in herbal medicines: a review
Published in Toxin Reviews, 2022
Jingsheng Yu, Meihua Yang, Jianping Han, Xiaohui Pang
The processing procedure in herbal materials is commonly used to improve the efficacy of herbal materials. Meanwhile, processing method also affects AF production. Odongo et al. (2018) indicated that processing methods, including cooking and fermentation, inhibited the growth of fungi in the medicinal plant Solanum scabrum. Raila et al. (2009) indicated that as the drying airflow intensity of was increased, the mycobiotic contamination was suppressed. However, the processing condition does not always decrease the level of mycotoxins. As a result of its healthcare function, yam has gained popularity in China and other countries. Omohimi et al. (2019) compared the differences of the AF contents between the processing and the post-processing stages of yam. The result showed that the AF level in fresh samples was lower than that in processed samples. Furthermore, the highest AF level was observed in processed yam flour. A similar study by Akpo-Djènontin et al. (2018) has reported the high AF contamination in herb powders. Except for processing methods, packaging materials influence the AF production. A report by Darko et al. (2018) indicated that the zero-oxygen hermetic packaging suppressed AF production. Fu et al. (2018) compared the effect of four packaging materials (polyester, aluminum, polyamide, and polyethylene) on AF contamination, and the result showed all these materials had an inhibitory effect on AF accumulation. Based on previous studies, AF production was affected by processing methods and packaging materials.
Integrated metabolomics and 16S rRNA sequencing to investigate the regulation of Chinese yam on antibiotic-induced intestinal dysbiosis in rats
Published in Artificial Cells, Nanomedicine, and Biotechnology, 2019
Yaping Sun, Tong Liu, Yanpo Si, Bing Cao, Yanli Zhang, Xiaoke Zheng, Weisheng Feng
Chinese yam is the dried rhizome of Dioscorea opposita Thunb., commonly known as Chinese yam. It was first recorded in the Shen Nong Ben Cao Jing. It is classified as high-grade (has tonifying effects with little to no toxins), with a sweet flavor, and neutral in nature. It mainly manifests its therapeutic actions in the Spleen, Lung and Kidney meridians. In TCM theory, it has the effect of invigorating Spleen, nourishing Stomach and invigorating Lung and Kidney. Studies have shown that Chinese yam extract could prevent the damages of the liver and kidney [9], and allantoin (a major metabolic intermediate produced from uric acid) can help prevent skeletal muscle dysfunction by stimulating energy metabolism [10], as well as allantoin may play an important role on antioxidative and antitumor capacity in yam peel [11]. Diosgenin (extracted from the tubers of Dioscorea wild yam) has protective effects on fructose-induced renal damage by regulating SIRT3-mediated oxidative stress, renal fibrosis, lipid metabolism and inflammation [12]. Chinese Yam polysaccharide can improve the survival rate of sperm and protect the integrity of sperm DNA [13]; and can also improve experimental colitis induced by 2,4,6-trinitrobenzene sulfonic acid (TNBS) in rats by regulating the composition and functional characteristics of intestinal flora [14].
Traditional practices and childhood cryptosporidiosis in Nigeria: A review
Published in Alexandria Journal of Medicine, 2018
Adekunle B. Ayinmode, Oluwasola O. Obebe
Most Nigerians wean their infant at about three to four months of age. Although some as early as the first two months of life by giving food like cereals made from maize (Zea mays), millet (Pennisetum americanum), or guinea corn (Sorghum spp) popularly referred to as pap, akamu, ogi, or koko in Yoruba land, and akamu in Hausa. Staple foods such as mashed, thinned, or pre-chewed form of yam (Dioscorea spp.), rice (Oryza sativa), gari (fermented cassava grits), and cocoyam (Xanthosoma sagittifolium) are then gradually introduced. These traditional menus, that are consistently fed to infants are known to be high in carbohydrate and low protein and may not be adequate to support the development of a strong immune system without supplements. However, the effort to encourage the feeding of a balanced diet to children in some cultures in Nigeria is hampered by the myth that described feeding of protein-rich food like meat, fish and eggs as a taboo, because it is believed that children fed on such meal will later become thieves, witches or wizards.43–46