Bioactividad y aplicación de productos vegetales. Yacon. a perspective for diabetes treatment

GENTA, SB; GRAU, A; SÁNCHEZ, SS

Tafí del Valle, Tucumán.

Congreso; XXI Annual Scientific Meeting of Tucumán Society Biology; 2004

Asociación de Biología de Tucumán

Yacon (Smallanthus sonchifolius [Poepp&Endl.] H. Robinson) is a native Andean plant which was commonly grown and consumed since pre-Columbian times. In recent years, expansion to several extra-Andean countries have been stimulated by the presumed medicinal properties of both roots and leaves.             Yacon roots store fructo-oligosaccharides (FOS) as the main carbohydrate. These non digestible sugars are a new category of low energy sweeteners which have no detectable effect on fasting blood glucose levels, suggesting a potential use in diabetic patients. Moreover, we recently showed that yacon feeding decrease triacylglycerols levels in the post-prandial serum of normal and diabetic rats. The mechanism of this effect probably is related to the high content of  FOS in the tuber. Hypoglycemic activity of water extract of yacon leaves was demonstrated in normal and diabetic rats, and is associated to an increase in plasma insulin level. However, the nature of the molecule(s) responsible for such effect as well as the mechanism of this action require further investigation. Recently, phenolic compounds contained in yacon leaves extracts and roots were shown to have antioxidant activity ?in vitro?. This finding may open the way for a potential therapeutic use in chronic diseases caused by radicals, e.g. diabetes mellitus. Assuming that yacon leaves and roots have been used for centuries by original Andean populations as a traditional folk medicine for diabetes treatment, this presentation aims at reviewing the current scientific evidence supporting the potential antidiabetic properties of yacon.