Table 4.

Medicinal uses of yam (Dioscorea species).

Species	Source of Extract	Biological Properties/Administration	Reference
D. alata	Tuber/bulb	Cure piles, gonorrhea and leprosy, anti-inflammatory, purgative, diuretic, anti-rheumatic properties; prevent cancer, reduce blood sugar, diabetes	[200,201] 2, [202,203] 1
	Tuber	Antihelminthic properties	[204,205] 2
	Leaf	Fever	[206] 2
D. bartletti	Rhizome	Stagnation of blood, anemia	[207] 2
D. belophylla	Tuber	Treatment of fever, dysentery, headache and malaria	[208] 2
D. bulbifera	Tuber	Treatment of dementia	[209] 1
		Treatment of diabetes	[210] 1
		Leprosy and tumors	[211,212] 1
		Microbial infections and pig cysticercosis	[213] 1
		Antispasmodic, analgesic, aphrodisiac, diuretic and rejuvenative tonic	[214] 1
		Effects on liver and heart, reduces carbuncles, lung abscesses, breast lumps, goiter	[212] 1
		Abdominal pain	[215,216] 2
		Cough	[217] 2
		Oral contraceptive.	[218,219] 2
		Raw tuber consumed as an appetizer	[220] 2
		Rheumatism	[221] 2
		Aphrodisiac	[222] 2
	Aerial bulb	Oxidative stress induced pathological disorders	[210,223] 1
		Anthelmintic treatment	[224] 1
	Leaf	Treatment of Elephantiasis	[225] 2
		Leaf paste fights dermatological diseases	[226] 2
	Stem	Fresh stem shoots are used on hair to fight dandruff	[7] 2
D. bellophylla	Tuber	Lowers blood cholesterol and reduces heart attack	[7] 2
D. cayenensis	Tuber	Anti-diarrheal	[206] 2
D. collettii	Rhizome	Cervical carcinoma, urinary bladder carcinoma, renal tumor	[227] 1
D. deltoidea	Tuber	Digestive disorders, sore throat, diarrhea, abdominal pains, wounds, burns, anemia	[228,229,230] 2
		Anti-rheumatic and treatment of ophthalmic conditions	[231] 2
		Antihelmintic treatment	[229] 2
		Birth control, oral contraceptive	[217] 2
		Antihelminthic	[204,232] 2
D. dumetorum	Tuber	Treatment of diabetes	[233] 1
		Control hyperlipidemia, hypercholesterolemia and hyperketonemia	[234] 2
		Jaundice treatment	[235] 2
D. esculenta	Tuber	Inflammations, nervous disorders and respiratory infections	[235] 2
		Dysentery and pain relief	[7] 2
D. hamittonii	Tuber	Stomach ache and appetizer	[235] 2
		Management of diarrhea	[236] 2
		Piles	[220] 2
D. hirtiflora	Tuber	Gonorrhea treatment	[127] 1
D. hispida	Leaf/root/tuber	Treatment of mole, insect bites and insomnia	[225] 2
	Tuber	Treatment of vomiting, indigestion and serves as a purgative when consumed fresh	[7] 2
		Treatment of wounds and injuries	[219] 2
		Ophthalmic ointment	[237] 2
D. japonica	Rhizome	Diarrhea and dysentery due to spleen deficiency, fatigue, wasting and thirsting, seminal emission, vaginal discharge and frequent urination	[238] 1
		Inflammation, asthma, rheumatoid arthritis	[239] 1
		coughing and wheezing	[239] 1
D. membranacea	Rhizome	Cancer	[240] 1
D. nipponica	Rhizome	Dissipation of lumps and goiter, clears heat, relieves toxicity, cools the blood, stops bleeding and coughing, calms sneezing, poisonous snake bites, bleeding due to blood-heat and whooping cough	[241] 2
		Anti-rheumatic, analgesic, aids blood circulation, anti-diuretic, aids digestion	[242,243] 1
D. oppositifolia	Rhizomes/tuber	Relief of menopausal syndromes, rejuvenation of early mothers	[220,244] 2
	Leaf/flower/tuber	Antiseptic for ulcer; the roots are chewed to cure toothache and aphtha	[245,246] 2
	Tuber	Increasing fertility in men	[222,236,247] 2
		Constituent in epileptic and nasal relief formula	[219] 2
D. panthaica	Rhizome	Gastric diseases, bone injuries, rheumatic arthritis	[122] 2
		Cardiovascular diseases	[248] 1
D. pentaphylla	Leaf/vine	Treatment of paralysis	[225] 2
	Tuber/flower/young shoot	Rheumatism	[7,249] 2
	Tuber	Pain relief and reduce swelling	[219] 2
		Stomach disorders	[7,250] 2
D. polystachya	Rhizome	Consumptive cough and dysentery, aid for digestion and gastric motility and for restraining nocturnal emissions	[251] 1
D. prazeri	Tuber	Antihelminthic	[204] 2
D. pubera	Tuberous rhizome/bulb	Cure colic pain	[246,252] 2
	Tuber	Weakness	[253] 2
D. septembola	Rhizome	Rheumatism, urethra, renal infection	[254] 1
D. spongiosa	Rhizome	Rheumatism, urethral, renal infections	[255] 2
D. sylvatica	Tuber	Decoction used to treat cuts, wounds and sores	[256] 2
D. trinervia	Tuber	Chronic diarrhea, asthma and diabetes	[7] 2
D. vexans	Tuber	Anti-fertility	[257] 2
D. villosa	Rhizome	Rheumatism	[135] 1, [258] 2
		Menstrual complaints, perimenopausal symptoms	[259,260] 2
D. wallichii	Tuber	Flatulence and stomach pain	[7,204,261] 2
		De-appetizer	[222] 2
D. zingiberensis	Rhizome	Cough, anthrax, rheumatic heart disease, rheum, arthritis, tumefaction, sprain	[262] 2

¹ Medical study; ² Ethnobotanical/review study; D. polystachya: Chinese yam formerly known as D. opposita and D. batatas.