Evaluation of mineral bioavailability and heavy metal content in indigenous food plant wild yams (Dioscorea spp.) from Koraput, India

Wild yam (Dioscorea spp.) tubers, an indigenous food makes a significant contribution to the diets of tribal people of Koraput, India. However, there is dearth of documented information of their mineral bioavailability and heavy metal content. To know their quality and safety concerns about their use, minerals and heavy metal concentrations were evaluated in eight wild and one cultivated yam species from Koraput. The samples were further investigated for their antinutrients to determine bioavailability of minerals. The majority of the wild yam tubers were rich in some of the essential minerals like calcium (18.08–74.79 mg/100 g), iron (11.15–28.61 mg/100 g), zinc (2.11–6.21 mg/100 g) and phosphorous (179–248 mg/100 g). The heavy metals concentration (mg/100 g) ranged from: cobalt (1.06–1.98), nickel (0.30–0.89), chromium (2.10–4.53) and lead (0.11–0.93) among the studied yam species. These values were lower than the recommended tolerable levels proposed by WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives. Based on these results of molar ratio between phytate and Fe, Zn and Ca were below the suggested critical values indicating the bioavailability of Fe, Zn and Ca to be high. The study also suggests these wild yam species as the safe food sources for mass consumption and can be beneficial for health.