Gembili, Your Natural & Antioxidant-Rich Rice Substitute
"At first glance, the shape is similar to sweet potatoes, except that the skin is not as smooth as sweet potatoes. The white tuber flesh is not only a good substitute for rice but also contains high natural antioxidants."Published by : Kurnia HD - 09/11/2020 08:28 WIB
4 Minutes read.
There are many types of tubers in Indonesia and not all are popular among the people. All in all, among the known types of tubers in the country, only cassava, sweet potato and potato are the most popular and most consumed. In fact, there are many other types of carbohydrates-rich and nutrients-rich tubers around, one of them is gembili.
Image source: https://ilmubudidaya.com/
Gembili or lesser yam (Dioscorea esculanta) is similar to sweet potato. The skin is light brown with white flesh color. Just like other types of tubers, gembili has a soft texture.
Gembili is a tropical climate. Compared to rice, it contains more calories, carbohydrates, protein, fat, calcium, phosphorus, iron, vitamin A, vitamin B1, and vitamin C.
Image source: https://id.wikipedia.org/
A piece of 100 grams gembili contains about 131 Kcal. It has glucomannan content which helps in weight loss programs. Apparently, this inferior plant can also prevent the formation of various types of dangerous degenerative diseases. According to Mar’atirrosyidah, dangerous degenerative diseases are caused by oxidative stress, a condition in which the production of free radicals is far greater than the antioxidants in our body.
Antioxidants are generally produced by our own bodies. However, these antioxidants are sometimes unable to fight the many free radicals around us. To strengthen antioxidants, we can consume synthetic and natural products.
We can get synthetic antioxidants from food products containing propyl gallate, butyl hydroxy anisol, butyl hydroxy toluenem and tert butyl hydroxy quinone. Meanwhile, we can also get a source of natural antioxidants from the gembili tuber.
Gembili contain bioactive compounds dioscorin and diosgenin which have been shown to be able to ward off the development of free radicals. Consuming gembili tubers is also a way to prevent oxidative stress and reduce the risk of developing dangerous degenerative diseases.
So, we will get various benefits from consuming gembili. In addition to meeting the carbohydrates and nutrients we need, gembili is able to protect our bodies from free radicals as well.
References
https://www.mongabay.co.id/2019/11/12/perubahan-iklim-ternyata-berdampak-pada-kedaulatan-pangan/
https://nationalgeographic.grid.id/read/13281139/krisis-pangan-tengah-membayangi-dunia?page=all
https://simdos.unud.ac.id/uploads/file_pendidikan_1_dir/75b8895f814f85fe9ae5ce91dc5411b1.pdf
http://www.andrafarm.com/_andra.php?_i=daftar-tkpi&kmakan=BR010#manfaat%20rinci
