Wild Yam Extract (Dioscorea Villosa Extract)

Description: Appearance: white fine powder.Odor: characteristic. Identified Scientific Name:Dioscorea Villosa. Synonyms: Colic-root, Devil's-bones, Rheumatism Root, Wilde Yamwurzel, rheumatism root, China root, devil's bones, yuma, Mexican wild yam, wilde yamwurzel,wild Mexican yam. Parts used: dried rhizome and roots. Dioscorea is an herbaceous twining perennial common in China main land,Mexico,the eastern and central United States. Twining in hedges,and over bushes and fences,the thin,woolly,reddish-brown stem grows up to 6m long. The slender, tuberous rootstock is crooked and laterally branched.Broadly ovate and cordate,the leaves are from 5-15cm long and 3-12cm wide,glabrous on top,and finely hairy underneath.They are usually alternate, but the lower leaves sometimes grow in twos and fours.The small, greenish-yellow flowers bloom during June and July, the male flowers in drooping panicles,the female in drooping,spicate racemes. The fruit is a three-winged capsule containing winged seeds. Introduction:When it was decided to review the wild yam and related Dioscorea species it was probably in ignorance of the complexity of the task. This is a fascinating plant with many uses in folk lore and also in the history of the development of modern pharmacy. The number of species is quite overwhelming (over 600) and the ethnobotanical use most interesting.

Function: Dioscorea root contains diosgenin, which has anti-fatigue, anti-inflammatory, anti-stress, hypocholesterolemic, and estrogenic effects. Dioscorea is antispasmodic, and could be helpful for nausea of pregnant women (morning sickness), spasmodic hiccough and asthma.Most women experience lack of progesterone, not estrogen.Natural progesterone supplements are used to balance estrogen. Natural progesterone has a structure similar to that of human progesterone and is made form plant fats; one of such fats is diosgenin. Wild Yam is reach in diosgenin, so it became the most popular source of natural progesterone.