Medicinal Uses of Dioscorea bulbifera-A Review

Dioscorea bulbifera is a tribal plant, which belongs to the family Dioscoreaceae assigned to the order dioscorales. It is native to tropical Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. Dioscorea bulbifera posses potentional therapeutic uses. It is found throughout India particularly in warmer places and is known as Yam or Air potato. Many tests prove phytochemically it contains flavnonoids, saponins, steroids, cardiac glycosides, terpenoids. This review will enumerate the free radical scavenging and anti-oxidant activity in nature. Other aspects covered include anti-microbial, analgesic, anti-inflammatory and gastroprotective functions. A large number among them occur in the wild state. Dioscorea species are distributed in nearly throughout India.