Yucca

Scientific Name(s): Yucca spp. Family: Agavaceae

Common Name(s): Yucca , Spanish bayonet , Our Lord's candle , Joshua tree , Adam's needle

Clinical Overview

Uses of Yucca

Yucca has been historically used as a fiber, soap, and for consumable products. Limited evidence suggests the extract may be effective in the management of arthritis, hypertension, and hypercholesterolemia.

Yucca Dosing

There is no recent clinical evidence upon which dosing recommendations for yucca can be based.

Contraindications

Contraindications have not yet been determined.

Pregnancy/Lactation

Information regarding safety and efficacy in pregnancy and lactation is lacking.

Yucca Interactions

None well documented.

Yucca Adverse Reactions

Research reveals little or no information regarding adverse reactions with the use of this product.

Toxicology

Little is known about the toxicity of yucca plants.

Botany

The name yucca applies to as many as 40 species of trees and shrubs found mostly in arid portions of North America. The common names noted above can apply to different species. The Spanish bayonet is Y. aloifolia and Our Lord's candle is Y. whipplei . 1 Other common yuccas include Y. schidigera (Mohave yucca) and Y. brevifolia (Joshua tree), which grows to 60 feet in height and is commonly found at the bases of desert mountains. 2 Yucca plants are characterized by stiff, evergreen, sword-shaped leaves crowded on a stout trunk. There is a dense terminal flowerhead (panicle) faintly resembling a candle. The flowers are white or greenish. All yucca plants depend for pollination on nocturnal yucca moths ( Tegeticula ). 3 Each variety of moth is adapted to a single species of yucca.

History

Yucca plants have served American Indians for centuries for a variety of uses including fiber for rope, sandals and cloth; the roots have been used in soap. The Indians and early Californian settlers used the green pods for food. Indian uses included boiling and baking the fruits, eating the blossoms, chewing the raw leaves and fermenting the fruits to produce a beverage for rituals. In modern times yucca has been used in soaps, shampoos and food supplements. Yuccas contain saponins that have a long-lasting soaping action. The plant has been purported to be beneficial for treating hypertension, arthritis, migraine headaches, colitis, and a variety of other disorders. A solid extract is derived from the leaves; 2 the Mohave yucca is the most common commercially used plant. Current commercial uses of yucca extracts include foaming agents in carbonated beverages, flavorings, and for use in drug synthesis research.

Chemistry

The roots of the yucca contain saponin glycosides consisting of a sapogenin and one or more sugars. 4 Saponins are characterized by their bitter taste and their ability to foam when shaken with water. 1 Most species of Yucca contain sarsasapogenin and tigogenin. 2 , 5 Cortical cells in the roots of Y. torreyi have been found to contain microbodies containing crystalline nucleoid inclusions that have been identified as unspecialized peroxisomes. 6 Y. aloifolia leaves contain up to 1.4% tigogenin and this compound can be used as a starting point in the commercial synthesis of steroidal hormones.

Yucca Uses and Pharmacology

Aqueous alcoholic extracts of the flowers of Y. glauca have been shown to have antitumor activity against B16 melanoma in mice. Analysis of these extracts has identified two galactose-containing polysaccharides effective against B16 melanoma but ineffective against L1210 and P388 leukemias in mice. 7 Yucca leaf protein has been found to inhibit herpes simplex virus types 1 and 2 and human cytomegalovirus. 8 Some saponins have been shown to allow bacterial, plant and animal cells to thrive under harsh environmental conditions. However, yucca saponins do not enhance weight gain, food conversion, or digestive coefficients when fed to young turkeys. 9

One report found that the oral administration of daily doses of a yucca saponin extract for up to 15 months was effective and well-tolerated for the treatment of various arthritic conditions. 1 However, the Arthritis Foundation found the study to be poorly controlled and designed, and the conclusions to have been based on inconsistent results. 1 , 10 Interestingly, the patients who received the extract for 6 months had significant reductions in blood pressure and serum cholesterol levels, and a reduction in the incidence of migraine headaches from baseline.

Dosage

There is no recent clinical evidence upon which dosing recommendations for yucca can be based.

Pregnancy/Lactation

Information regarding safety and efficacy in pregnancy and lactation is lacking.

Interactions

None well documented.

Adverse Reactions

Research reveals little or no information regarding adverse reactions with the use of this product.

Toxicology

It is generally recognized that saponins are poisonous to lower forms of life, but are however, nearly nontoxic to humans when taken orally. However, their injection into the bloodstream causes hemolysis, dissolving red blood cells even if the saponins are present at extreme dilutions. This effect, however, is more pronounced in vitro than in vivo. 2 Little is known about the toxicity of yucca saponins. The effects of long-term ingestion of these saponins is not well defined. A 12-week feeding study in rats found Mohave yucca extract to be essentially nontoxic. 11

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