Beneficial properties of yacon (smallanthus sonchifolius) in the health

Abstract

Introduction: Yacón (Smallanthus sonchifolius), is a plant native to the South American Andean areas and many properties have been attributed beneficial to the body; including antioxidant effects, antimicrobial, hypolipidemic, antidiabetic and even anticancer. Objective: Expand knowledge about the functional properties attributed to yacon; For this purpose, a compilation and reading of the studies will be made. published to date on yacon and will be used to validate the properties beneficial that yacon has on health. Materials and methods: For the This article carried out a systematic review since November 2021 until January 2022, through electronic searches in databases such as MedLine, PubMed and SciELO. Results: This work begins with a brief description about the phytochemistry of yacon; then develop the possible antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, prebiotic, anticancer, hypoglycemic and hypolipidemic properties attributed to yacón. Conclusions: Yacon is a very nutritious food that is becoming more and more known among the population due to the disclosure of its beneficial properties, which include according to the consulted literature, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, prebiotic, anticarcinogenic, hypoglycemic and hypolipidemic. It is considered necessary carry out more studies on this food to better elucidate its effects, since much of the data reported so far originates from model studies animals and very few with humans.