Table 5 Food functionality of some vegetable species which include traditional Kyo-yasai
From: Introduction to heirloom vegetables in Kyoto prefecture (Kyo-yasai), Japan
Plant name | Botanical name | Benefit | Key ingredients and/or function | References |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Arrowhead | Sagittaria trifolia L. | Inhibitory effects on the histamine release | Four bioactive diterpene ketones | Yokota [79], Yoshikawa et al. [80] Wen et al. [81] |
Bamboo shoots | Phyllostachys pubescens Mazel | Biological regulatory actions such as information transmission between cells for proliferation and differentiation, intercellular adhesion, and also for cell quality | Sialic acid, proteins, and fiber | Onodera et al. [82] Watanabe and Koketsu [83] |
Burdock | Arctium lappa L. | Antioxidant activity, anti-inflammatory, and hypolipidemic properties, and gastric mucosal defense mechanisms | Prebiotic fibers, chlorogenic acids, cinnarine, lignans, and quercetin | Moro and Glerici [84] |
Carrot ‘Kintoki’ | Daucus carota L. | Higher anti-radical activity than those of western carrot | Lycopene | Takahashi et al. [85] Leja et al. [86] |
Cucumber | Cucumis sativus L. | Possibility to mitigate cancer by stopping cancer cells from reproducing | Cucurbitacin | Alghasham [87] |
Japanese Butterbur | Petasites japonicus (Siebold et Zucc.) Maxim | Anti-allergic effect | Sesquiterpenoids, lignans, and flavonoids | Hiemori-Kondo [88] |
Mioga ginger | Zingiber mioga (Thunb.) Roscoe | Increased nerve growth factor, improvement of learning and memory | Mioga ginger extract | Kim et al. [89] |
Pepper | Capsicum annuum L | Antioxidant activity | Ascorbic acid, carotenoids, sialic acid | Onodera et al. [82] |
Taro | Colocasia esculenta L. | Radical scavenging activity | At a stalk of taro, called ‘Zuiki,’ the red pigment was identified as cyanidin 3-rutinoside | Terasawa et al. [90] |
Turnip | Brassica rapa L. var. rapa | Anticancer, antimicrobial, antimicrobial, antihyperoxia, antidiabetes, antioxidant, and renoprotective activities | Bioactive components, including glucosinolates, isothiocyanates, phenolic compounds, flavonoids, and organic acids | Cao et al. [91] |
Udo ginseng | Aralia cordata Thumb | Mitigating diabetes, alleviating high blood pressure | Falcarinol renin inhibitory activity | Yoshida et al. [92] Takahashi et al. [93] |
Water dropwort | Oenanthe javanica (BL.) DC | Biological activities such as hepatoprotective, anti-inflammatory, immune enhancement, ethanol elimination, antioxidant, antiviral, neuroprotective,anti-cancer, anticoagulant, anti-fatigue, hypoglycemic, cardiovascular protection, analgesic, and insecticidal activities | Sialic acid, coumarins, flavonoids, flavonoid glycosides, organic acids, polyphenols, and chlorogenic acid | Onodera et al. [82] Manaois et al. [94] Lu and Li [95] |
Water shield | Brasenia schreberi J.F. Gmel | Antioxidant activities | Polysaccharides, quercetin-7-O-β-D-glucopyranoside and gallic acid | Kakuta and Misaki [15] Legault et al. [96] Xiao et al. [97] |
Welsh Onion | Allium fistulosum L. | Augment immune functions | Secretes mucus in the cavities of its green leaves | Ueda et al. [98] |