Phytochemical Screening and Nutritional Analyses of Some Edible Parts of Dioscorea bulbifera L.

: The present study was aimed to carry out the preliminary phytochemical screening and determine nutritive value, mineral and heavy metal contents in bulbil and tuber extracts of Dioscorea bulbifera L. belonging to family Dioscoreaceae. The dried plant parts were subjected to successive Soxhlet extraction using solvents of increasing polarity such as petroleum ether, chloroform, methanol, ethanol and aqueous. All the extracts were subjected to qualitative phytochemical screening and it showed the presence of active constituents such as alkaloids, saponins, flavonoids, steroids and terpenoids. The mineral analysis of D. bulbifera revealed that it may act as a good source of diet as it contains good amounts of necessary mineral elements, fats, proteins and sugars essential for human health. Heavy metals and inorganic elements were determined by atomic absorption spectrometry technique. The results obtained shows that the levels of three potentially toxic heavy metals analyzed were quite below the permissible limits in both the plant parts analyzed. This justifies its use in the traditional medicine for the treatment of different diseases and as a potential source of alternative food.