A Multifaceted Medicinal Plant: Dioscorea bulbifera L. and Its Potential in Antimicrobial, Anti-Inflammatory, Anticancer, and Anti-diabetic Therapy

Since ancient history, Dioscorea bulbifera L. has been recognized and publicized as a detoxification, anti-inflammatory and hemostatic agent due to which it can boast of ancient Chinese pharmacopoeia evidence dating back centuries-a seventh century text "Tang Bencao." D. bulbifera is a valuable remedy for a broad array of clinical conditions including infection, goiter and malignancy, thus having a wide application in the Asian and African regions mostly.(1) This review aims to be comprehensive regarding the pharmacology, phytochemistry and toxicology of D. bulbifera, revealing its therapeutic prospects for modern medicine.(2)The bioactive compounds extracted using methanol and ethyl acetate demonstrated significant antimicrobial effects against pathogens like Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Mycobacterium tuberculosis, highlighting their potential in combating these microorganisms.(3) Meanwhile, significant anti-inflammatory and analgesic effects were presented by D. bulbifera in different pain models, implying that the plant could be natural for alternative pain relief.(4) The petroleum ether extract also showed remarkable results in anti-tumor research it has powerful tumor-inhibiting activity, while some of its active compounds kill a variety of cancer lines, among them liver and cervical cancers.(5) Additionally, D. bulbifera exhibited a notable capacity to suppress the activity of α-amylase and α-glucosidase enzymes, highlighting its antidiabetic potential, with methanol extracts proving to be more potent.(6) This review emphasizes D. bulbifera with great therapeutic potential multipurpose; among them include antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, anti-tumor and anti-diabetic, thus encouraging further modern pharmacological applications.