山药,由600多种物种组成,是山药科中最重要的属;然而,实际使用的植物,通常被称为山药,仅限于数量明显较少的物种。大量研究报道了山药的高营养价值,特别是作为淀粉和一些重要微量营养素的替代来源。几种山药种类也广泛用于各种药用目的。在许多研究中,山药提取物和其他制剂的生物活性和健康益处与植物化学物质的存在有关,具有抗氧化特性;它们主要与化学分析中的自由基清除能力以及基于细胞和体内测定中对内源性抗氧化系统的积极影响有关。考虑到关于这一主题的出版物越来越多,并且缺乏关于抗氧化剂潜力的全面和重点突出的评论文件,本文综述了山药抗氧化性能的研究结果。以及它们与植物化学物质和健康益处的关系。对已发表的文章进行的全面调查显示,大多数研究都是用植物块茎(根茎,根),而关于树叶的报道相当稀少。总的来说,叶提取物显示出比块茎制剂更强的抗氧化潜力。这可能与植物化学成分的差异有关:皂苷,菲和,对于一些富含色素的物种(紫色山药),花色苷是块茎中的重要成分,而酚酸和类黄酮是叶子中特有的植物化学物质。该评论可能有助于解释有关薯类植物及其制剂的健康益处的民族药理学知识;此外,它可能会促进对研究不足的物种的进一步研究,以及它们在开发新的功能性食品和营养食品中的广泛应用。
Dioscorea, consisting of over 600 species, is the most important genus in the Dioscoreaceae family; however, the practically used plants, which are commonly called yam, are restricted to a remarkably smaller number of species. Numerous studies have reported the high nutritional value of yam, particularly as an alternative source of starch and some important micronutrients. Several Dioscorea species are widely used for various medicinal purposes as well. In many studies, the bioactivities and health benefits of Dioscorea extracts and other preparations have been related to the presence of phytochemicals, which possess antioxidant properties; they are related mainly to radical-scavenging capacity in chemical assays and positive effects on the endogenous antioxidant system in cell-based and in vivo assays. Considering the increasing number of publications on this topic and the absence of comprehensive and focused
review papers on antioxidant potential, this article summarizes the results of studies on the antioxidant properties of Dioscorea spp. and their relation to phytochemicals and health benefits. A comprehensive survey of the published articles has revealed that the majority of studies have been performed with plant tubers (rhizomes, roots), while reports on leaves are rather scarce. In general, leaf extracts demonstrated stronger antioxidant potential than tuber preparations. This may be related to the differences in phytochemical composition: saponins, phenanthrenes and, for some pigment-rich species (purple yams), anthocyanins are important constituents in tubers, while phenolic acids and flavonoids are characteristic phytochemicals in the leaves. The
review may assist in explaining ethnopharmacological knowledge on the health benefits of Dioscorea plants and their preparations; moreover, it may foster further studies of poorly investigated species, as well as their wider application in developing new functional foods and nutraceuticals.