  The aroids (Colocasia esculenta and Xanthosoma sagittifolium) and yams(Dioscorea esculenta, D. alata and D. rotundata) contain mucilaginous polysaccharides. The pure mucilage was isolated from these tubers by cold TCA extraction and their properties studied. The mucilage from Dioscorea sp. was partially purified using ammonium sulphate fractionation and further through SDS PAGE. The mucilages from D. alata, D. rotundata and D. esculenta appeared as a single band in SDS PAGE at 32 KDa. Physiological studies in rat models indicated that the mucilages had anti-inflammatory activity. A dose dependent DPPH scavenging activity was observed for the mucilages from the three yam species. Of the three species, lesser yam (D.esculenta) had the lowest antioxidant potential. The relative viscosity of all the mucilages increased with increase in concentration. |
  Mucilages from taro and lesser yam were found to reduce significantly the serum triglyceride level in albinorats. Characterization of the mucilage showed the presence of b(1to4) mannose linkages in lesser yam mucilage and b (1to4) galactose linkages in taro mucilage. Water stress in cassava and taro caused significant alterations in the levels of major The major carotene in sweet potato was found to be beta type. Studies on sweet potato anthocyanin storage showed that light and high temperature led to the fading of the colour. At room temperature the colour could be preserved by adding iron along with quercetin. |
 INSTITUTE RESEARCH PROJECTS EXTERNALY AIDED PROJECTS TECHNOLOGIES |