Antioxidant Acitivity in Various Processed Products of Inferior Local Tubers (Dioscorea SP. L.)

Inferior local tubers such as lesser yam, wild yam and arrowroot contain bioactive compounds such as phenols and diosgenin which act as antioxidants.  Antioxidant activities in the processed of local tubers have not been reported. The aim of this research was to identify the antioxidant activity of local tubers (inferior) that has been processed through the process of steaming, frying and milling to be flour. The determination of antioxidant activity was performed using α, α, Diphenyl Picryl Hydrazil (DPPH), which is indicated as a percentage of the apprehension of radical activities by the amount of absorbance at 680 nm. The antioxidant activity of lesser yam steamed, fried and milled were 2.26 %, 0.84 %, and 3.34 % respectively. The antioxidant activity of steamed, fried and milled arrowroot were 1.44 %, 0.65 %, and 1.32 % respectively. Moreover, the antioxidant activity of steamed, fried and milled wild yam were 1.08 %, 0.08 %, and 0.82 % respectively. The antioxidant activity of inferior local tubers have decreased in different types of processing. The highest antioxidant activity was in the milled tubers followed by steamed and fried tuber.&nbsp