Pharmaceutical and Nutraceutical Values of Dioscorea hispida Dennst.: a Wild Food of Asia and Africa

The potential ethnomedicinal plants are considered of great importance in the present day mainly due to the shortcomings of the drugs against antimicrobial resistance (AMR), or, in other words, the ability for cells to mutate with respect to the changing environment. The present study demonstrates the ethnobotanical values of the wild tuberous plant, Dioscorea hispida, which is used as medicinal food in Asia and Africa and further performs scientific validation of the ethnomedicinal values claimed by the locals of India and Nigeria, through phytochemical analysis and antibacterial activity. A survey elucidated certain foods and therapeutic uses of the tubers of D. hispida. Qualitative analysis of phytochemical compounds revealed the presence of secondary metabolites like tannins, terpenoids, reducing sugar, flavonoids, phenolic compounds and saponins. Subsequent examination of the antibacterial activity of D. hispida's tuber extracts against gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria revealed that the acetone tuber extract had the largest zone of inhibition against Streptococcus mutans followed by the methanol tuber extract against Vibrio cholerae, the methanol tuber extract against Shigella flexneri, the aqueous tuber extract against S. flexneri. This scientific confirmation may aid in the identification of possible antibacterial compounds, the confirmation of nutraceutical potential, and the promotion of value additions associated with the consumption of such tuberous plants in Asia and Africa.