Abstract:
Underutilized food crops, with good nutritional potential and easily cultivable
characteristics, have been recognized as one of the promising solutions for the world food
crisis. Substantial number of underutilized yams that are grown under natural climatic
condition with little or no-input are available in Sri Lanka. But little is known about their
nutritional and functional values. This research attempted to investigate those properties
of widely grown eight yams available in Sri Lanka. It includes six yam cultivars of
Dioscorea including Rajala, Kahata Angala, Dandina, Higurala and Seeni Ala and two aroid
cultivars Kidarang (Amorphophallus campanulatus) and Kiri Ala (Xanthosoma sagittifoliu).
Selected varieties were tested for proximate composition (moisture, crude protein, crude
fat, crude fiber, ash and carbohydrate), mineral composition (Fe, Cu, K, Zn, Na, Mg and Ca),
antioxidant capacity, antimicrobial activity by using AOAC officially approved methods,
Atomic absorption spectrometer, total phenolic content assay, DPPH radical scavenging
assay and agar well diffusion method respectively. The data obtained were analyzed by
performing ANOVA using Minitab 17 statistical software. Highest values for the proximate
and mineral composition were observed in Kidarang. Highest antioxidant capacity was
observed in Dandina. Rajala was effective against pathogenic microorganisms. Generally,
all studied varieties were found to be rich in nutritional and functional characteristics.
Therefore, it is recommended to promote the consumption of those varieties among Sri
Lankan consumers as healthy foods.
