Yacon. A perspective for diabetes treatment

GENTA S.B.; GRAU A.; SANCHEZ S.S.

Tafi del Valle, Tucumán. Argentina.

Congreso; XXI Annual Scientific Meeting of the Tucuman Bioloy Society; 2004

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 ofboth 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 recentIy showed that yacon feeding decrease triacylglycerols levels in the post-prandial serum of normal and diabetic rats. The mechanism ofthis effect probably is related to the high content of FOS in the tuber. Hypoglycemic activity ofwater extract ofyacon leaves