The Dioscorea genus: a review of bioactive steroid saponins

Abstract

This review will summarize some of the important reports on the chemistry and the biological activities of Dioscorea steroid saponins from the literature data of recent years (2000)(2001)(2002)(2003)(2004)(2005)(2006) and from the authors' studies. These discoveries became possible as a result of the scientific development of isolation, structure elucidation, and the development of in vitro bioassays. Over 50 steroid saponins of furostane-, spirostane-, and pregnane-type skeleton have been discovered and characterized from 13 Dioscorea species, namely, D. bulbifera L., D. cayenensis Lam.-Holl, D. colletii Hook. F. var. hypoglauca (Palib.) Pei et Ting, D. deltoidea Wall var. orbiculata, D. futschauensis R. Kunth, D. nipponica Mak., D. panthaica Prain et Burkill, D. parviflora Ting, D. polygonoides Humb. et Bonpl., D. pseudojaponica Yamamoto, D. spongiosa Xi, Mizuno et Zhao, D. villosa L., D. zingiberensisWright. The main biological and pharmacological properties of Dioscorea saponins concern cytotoxic and antifungal activity, which are highlighted.

Synthesis of silver nanoparticles using Dioscorea bulbifera tuber extract and evaluation of its synergistic potential in combination with antimicrobial agents

“…24 D. bulbifera tuber extract is rich in polyphenolic compounds, especially flavonoids and catechin, which have contributed to its pronounced antioxidant and antidiabetic properties. [25][26][27] In an earlier report, we reported synthesis of gold nanoparticles using D. bulbifera.…”

Bioactive (co)oligoesters with antioxidant properties – synthesis and structural characterization at the molecular level

“…p-Anisic acid has recently become increasingly significant as a multi-functional raw material in both the cosmetics and food industries 4 . Today, several antimicrobial fragrance ingredients are commercially available, such as, p-anisic acid (pmethoxybenzoic acid) and levulinic acid (4-oxopentanoic acid), which were found to be the main compounds in Pimpinella anisum and other herbs and in Dioscorea villosa as a by-product in the production of diosgenin from wild yam, respectively 5 .…”

The Effect of Crude Diosgenin Extract from Purple and Yellow Greater Yams (Dioscorea alata L.) on the Lipid Profile of Dyslipidemia Rats

“…One bioactive compound that occurs naturally in yam (Dioscorea sp.) tuber is diosgenin (Sautour et al, 2007) that has a role in decreasing hepatic and plasma triglycerides (Uemura et al, 2011). Diosgenin (3b,, a plant sterol, is structurally similar to cholesterol (Korster et al, 2005) (Fig.…”