Yacon Root and Its Fructooligosaccharides

Table of Contents

1. The Andean Root and Its Traditional Uses
2. What Yacon Root Contains
3. How Storage, Drying and Processing Change It
4. How Fructooligosaccharides Work as a Prebiotic Fibre
5. Bowel Transit and Constipation in Human Studies
6. Gut Bacteria in Human Studies
7. Blood Sugar and Insulin in Human Studies
8. Body Weight and Appetite in Human Studies
9. What the Pooled Analyses Report
10. Yacon Syrup and Yacon Flour
11. Digestive Side Effects and Other Reported Reactions
12. The Leaf Is a Separate Product
13. What Is Not Known
14. Key Research Papers
15. Connections
16. Featured Videos

The Andean Root and Its Traditional Uses

Yacon belongs to the Asteraceae, the same large plant family as sunflowers, chicory, dandelion and elecampane, and it is native to the Andes. A 2026 review of its traditional uses describes the tuberous roots as commonly eaten as a "functional fruit", while the leaves are often used for composting or simply treated as farm waste in some areas (Li and Gu, 2026).

Two traditions run side by side. The root has been grown and eaten mainly as food, and the authors of a 2010 case report note that yacon tubers have traditionally been used as a source of natural sweetener and syrup (Yun and colleagues, 2010). The leaves have a separate history: a 2012 safety study states that yacon leaves have been used since pre-Columbian times in the Andean region to make a medicinal herbal tea (Barcellona and colleagues, 2012), and a 2011 study notes that the leaves have traditionally been used as an anti-diabetic herb in several countries, including Brazil (de Oliveira and colleagues, 2011). The leaf story is covered in its own section below, because the evidence on it is different.

The crop has spread well beyond South America. One analysis of a yacon concentrate from New Zealand describes it as made from the roots of a cultivar called 'New Zealand', first grown there in the 1980s (Chessum and colleagues, 2022). Most of the human trials described below come from Brazil, with others from Argentina, Switzerland and China.

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What Yacon Root Contains

The headline component is fructooligosaccharides, together with some longer inulin-type chains. Reviews describe yacon as unusual for its high fructooligosaccharide and inulin content, alongside phenolic compounds, flavonoids and, in the plant as a whole, sesquiterpene lactones (Delgado and colleagues, 2013; Silva and colleagues, 2024).

How much fructooligosaccharide a root holds varies enormously:

• On a fresh-weight basis, a Japanese storage study describes yacon roots as accumulating about 10% inulin-type fructooligosaccharides (Narai-Kanayama and colleagues, 2007).
• Across varieties, a Peruvian study of 35 different yacon accessions (distinct collected lines of the crop) found fructooligosaccharide contents ranging from 6.4 to 65 grams per 100 grams of dry matter. The same accessions held 7.9 to 30.8 milligrams of phenolic compounds per gram of dry matter, measured as chlorogenic acid equivalents (Campos and colleagues, 2012).
• In a single regional sample, an Argentine study of Andean roots and tubers reported that fructooligosaccharides were the main component of yacon carbohydrates, at 8.89%, while the cassava (manioc) samples in the same study contained none (Jiménez and Sammán, 2014).

Chlorogenic acid and caffeic acid were the major phenolic compounds in a New Zealand yacon concentrate (Chessum and colleagues, 2022). A 2026 pilot study using high-resolution mass spectrometry identified 82 chemical components in yacon root (Pan and colleagues, 2026).

The practical point for a reader is that "yacon" is not one fixed composition. The variety grown, where it was grown and how long it sat after harvest all change how much fructooligosaccharide ends up on the plate.

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How Storage, Drying and Processing Change It

Yacon does not hold its fructooligosaccharides well once it is out of the ground. Narai-Kanayama and colleagues (2007) stored roots at 8 °C and 90% relative humidity, conditions previously recommended for the crop, and still found that the shorter fructooligosaccharide chains decreased markedly while free fructose increased. The longer chains (nine or more fructose units) decreased only slightly. The authors traced the loss mainly to an enzyme in the root itself, fructan 1-exohydrolase, which snips fructose units off the short chains. In plain terms, a stored yacon root slowly converts part of its fibre-like sugar into ordinary fruit sugar.

The authors of a 2019 trial using yacon flour make the same point in their introduction: fructooligosaccharides in the fresh root are rapidly broken down, and they chose a dried product, flour, because dehydration keeps the fructooligosaccharides stable (Machado and colleagues, 2019). Most of the human trials below used syrup, flour or freeze-dried powder rather than fresh root for this reason.

For syrup, a Brazilian analysis followed fructooligosaccharides and chlorogenic acid through each stage of production. Both were maintained through pulping, enzyme treatment and microfiltration, and both became more concentrated in the final vacuum-concentration step (Silva and colleagues, 2018).

No study read for this page measured what boiling, baking or frying in a home kitchen does to the fructooligosaccharides of fresh yacon root, so how much survives cooking is an open question on this page.

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How Fructooligosaccharides Work as a Prebiotic Fibre

Fructooligosaccharides are short chains of fructose units. Human digestive enzymes do not break the bonds that join those units, so the chains pass through the stomach and small intestine largely intact and reach the colon. There, some groups of bacteria can use them as food and others cannot, which is why they are called prebiotic: they shift which bacteria grow. The chemistry of these fructans, and of their longer relative inulin, is explained in detail on the Elecampane, Inulin and the Gut page, and the general idea of prebiotics on the Prebiotics page.

Reviews of yacon summarise the proposed chain of events this way. Fructooligosaccharide intake favours the growth of bacteria regarded as health-promoting, such as bifidobacteria, while reducing some disease-causing groups. When the bacteria ferment the fructooligosaccharides, they produce short-chain fatty acids, which act as fuel and as signalling molecules in the immune response, in blood sugar control and in fat metabolism (Caetano and colleagues, 2016). An earlier review adds that fructooligosaccharide and inulin intake improves the growth of bifidobacteria in the colon and enhances mineral absorption (Delgado and colleagues, 2013). These reviews describe a mechanism; they are not themselves proof that eating yacon produces a health benefit in people.

Animal work suggests the whole root may not behave exactly like purified fructooligosaccharides. In rats, a feed containing 10% yacon root, matched for fructooligosaccharide content to a feed containing 5% commercial fructooligosaccharides, produced a twofold greater concentration of short-chain fatty acids in the caecum (the pouch at the start of the large intestine) and a different mix of gut bacteria. Some bacterial groups appeared only in the rats fed yacon. The authors concluded that the effects of the yacon root differed from those of the purified product (Utami and colleagues, 2013). In guinea pigs, a diet rich in yacon fructooligosaccharides increased bifidobacteria and lactobacilli and raised short-chain fatty acid levels in the caecum (Campos and colleagues, 2012). Whether the same difference between whole root and purified fibre holds in people has not been tested directly.

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Bowel Transit and Constipation in Human Studies

Bowel habit is the outcome with the most consistent human findings for yacon.

• Healthy volunteers, Switzerland, 2008. In a placebo-controlled, double-blind crossover study, 16 healthy adults (8 men, 8 women) took 20 grams of yacon syrup a day, equal to 6.4 grams of fructooligosaccharides, for two weeks, with a two-week wash-out between periods. Transit time through the gut, measured with swallowed markers visible on X-ray, fell from 59.7 to 38.4 hours (p < 0.001). Stool frequency rose from 1.1 to 1.3 times per day and stools tended to be softer, but neither change reached statistical significance (Geyer and colleagues, 2008).
• Adults with constipation, Brazil, 2015. Forty-eight adults, including older people, were divided into two equal groups. The test group drank orange juice containing a yacon-based product that supplied 10 grams of fructooligosaccharides and inulin a day; the control group drank orange juice with 25 grams of maltodextrin. After 30 days, the yacon group had more bowel movements, better stool consistency and a lower constipation score. Faecal short-chain fatty acids did not change significantly (de Souza Lima Sant'Anna and colleagues, 2015).
• Healthy adults, China, 2026. In a 10-day pilot of 11 healthy adults, continuous intake of yacon root increased bowel movement frequency, with no noticeable adverse effects reported. The abstract does not describe a placebo group (Pan and colleagues, 2026).
• Overweight adults, Brazil, 2019. In the yacon flour trial described under body weight below, the authors report improved bowel function compared with the control group (Machado and colleagues, 2019).
• Older adults, Brazil, 2014. In a 9-week trial of freeze-dried yacon powder, the dose given did not adversely affect intestinal transit (Scheid and colleagues, 2014). The abstract does not report a speeding of transit.

A 2025 meta-analysis that pooled 12 studies found that yacon root lowered stool pH (more acidic stool, a sign of fermentation), softened stools and made defecation easier, reported as standardised effect sizes of −1.12, 0.94 and 4.03 respectively (Pan and colleagues, 2025). A standardised effect size is a unit-free measure used to combine studies that measured things in different ways. Very wide uncertainty ranges came with some of these figures, and the authors describe the included studies as of limited quality. More on bowel habit and its causes is on the Constipation page.

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Gut Bacteria in Human Studies

Several trials looked directly at which bacteria were in stool before and after yacon.

• In the 2015 constipation trial, the yacon group showed higher counts of Bifidobacterium, lower counts of Clostridium and enterobacteria, and lower faecal pH after 30 days. Faecal lactate was higher than in the control group (de Souza Lima Sant'Anna and colleagues, 2015).
• In a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled 6-week trial in 21 adults with excess body weight, all of whom were given an energy-restricted diet, 11 drank 25 grams of yacon flour at breakfast each day and 10 did not. Gene sequencing of stool showed an increase in the genera Bifidobacterium, Blautia, Subdoligranulum and Streptococcus after yacon (Ribeiro and colleagues, 2023).
• In the 2026 Chinese pilot of 11 healthy adults, yacon root increased Bifidobacterium and reduced Escherichia-Shigella, and raised stool levels of cholic acid, taurine and several amino acids (Pan and colleagues, 2026).

Two findings complicate the simple "more bifidobacteria" story. First, in a 6-week trial of yacon flour in 26 adults with excess weight, short-chain fatty acids in stool fell in both the yacon and the control group, and intestinal permeability (how "leaky" the gut lining is) did not change (Machado and colleagues, 2021). Second, a crossover trial in 40 women found that the bacteria a person already carried shaped how they responded: six volunteers did not respond to yacon syrup at all, and a higher starting abundance of the phylum Actinobacteria (P = 0.021) and of the order Bifidobacteriales (P = 0.013) went with a better insulin response (Sales and colleagues, 2023). A change in which bacteria are present is also not, by itself, the same as a health benefit; the Almonds and the Gut Microbiome page discusses that gap for another food.

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Blood Sugar and Insulin in Human Studies

The findings on blood sugar depend on whether a study looked at a single meal or at weeks of intake, and the pooled results are weaker than the individual trials.

• After one breakfast. In a randomised, crossover, double-blind trial, 40 women (20 of normal weight and 20 with grade I obesity) ate breakfast with 40 grams of yacon syrup, supplying 14 grams of fructooligosaccharides, or with 40 grams of placebo, at least a week apart. Blood glucose was lower after yacon syrup at 30 minutes, and insulin was lower at 15, 30 and 45 minutes. Blood triglycerides were not affected (Adriano and colleagues, 2019).
• Who responds. A follow-up analysis of the same design in 40 women confirmed lower glucose and insulin after yacon syrup, but identified six non-responders, and linked a better insulin response to higher starting levels of Actinobacteria and Bifidobacteriales in stool (Sales and colleagues, 2023).
• Older adults over 9 weeks. In a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial, 72 older men and women (mean age 67.11 years) received freeze-dried yacon powder supplying 7.4 grams of fructooligosaccharides a day, or a control, for 9 weeks. The yacon group showed a mean decrease in serum glucose (p = 0.013). Blood fats were not reduced (Scheid and colleagues, 2014).
• Women with obesity over 120 days. In a double-blind, placebo-controlled study in obese, slightly dyslipidaemic premenopausal women, yacon syrup was given at two doses, 0.29 and 0.14 grams of fructooligosaccharides per kilogram of body weight per day. Fasting insulin and a calculated insulin-resistance score (HOMA-IR) both decreased. Fasting glucose and blood fats were not affected, except for a reported effect on LDL cholesterol (Genta and colleagues, 2009).

A 2025 meta-analysis of seven randomised trials with 239 participants found that, overall, yacon had no statistically significant effect on fasting blood sugar, insulin, the insulin-resistance score, total cholesterol, HDL cholesterol or triglycerides. In subgroups, fasting blood sugar fell in trials lasting more than 8 weeks and in people over 40, and LDL cholesterol fell with more than 8 weeks of intake, particularly in women and people over 40. The authors concluded that yacon use in adults does not lead to significant improvements in lipid profiles or glycaemic measures (Nilghaz and colleagues, 2025). Background on blood sugar disorders is on the Type 2 Diabetes page.

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Body Weight and Appetite in Human Studies

• Yacon syrup, 120 days. In the Argentine trial in obese premenopausal women, daily yacon syrup produced a significant decrease in body weight, waist circumference and body mass index, along with more frequent bowel movements and a greater feeling of fullness (Genta and colleagues, 2009). The abstract does not give the number of participants.
• Yacon flour with a calorie-reduced diet, 6 weeks. Twenty-six adults with excess weight (mean age 31.3 years, mean body mass index 30.4) were all given an energy-restricted diet of 500 kilocalories a day below their needs. Thirteen drank a breakfast drink containing 25 grams of yacon flour, about 0.1 gram of fructooligosaccharides per kilogram of body weight, and thirteen drank the same drink without yacon. The yacon group lost more body weight, waist circumference and body fat than the control group (Machado and colleagues, 2019). Because both groups were dieting, this trial tests yacon as an addition to calorie restriction, not on its own.
• Appetite after one breakfast. In 40 women given 40 grams of yacon syrup (14 grams of fructooligosaccharides) or placebo with breakfast, there was no effect on the appetite hormones ghrelin and glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1), and no effect on reported hunger, fullness or desire to eat, either in the whole group or when women of normal weight and women with obesity were analysed separately (Adriano and colleagues, 2020).
• Appetite over two weeks. A double-blind, placebo-controlled study gave yacon syrup supplying 8.74 grams of fructooligosaccharides a day. Its effect on appetite depended on sex and on how long it was taken, and was statistically significant only in women after the two-week period (Gomes da Silva and colleagues, 2017).

A 2025 meta-analysis of seven randomised trials with 246 participants reported that yacon intake was associated with weight reduction (a weighted mean difference of −8.22 kilograms, with a 95% confidence interval running from −16.01 to −0.43). It found no significant effect on body mass index, waist circumference or C-reactive protein, a blood marker of inflammation. In subgroups, weight reductions were significant in people aged 40 and over, in women, and with more than 8 weeks of intake (Porbafrani and colleagues, 2026). The very wide confidence interval means the true average effect could be large or small. A separate 2025 meta-analysis of 12 studies reported a reduction in body mass index (standardised effect size −0.81) and a tendency toward lower body weight and waist circumference (Pan and colleagues, 2025). The two analyses disagree on body mass index, which reflects how few and how small the underlying trials are.

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What the Pooled Analyses Report

Five reviews published between 2024 and 2026 bring the yacon trials together. They draw on largely the same small pool of studies, which is worth keeping in mind when their conclusions seem to differ.

• Pan and colleagues, 2025 (12 studies). Pooled results showed lower body mass index, lower stool pH, softer stools, easier defecation and higher fibre intake, with tendencies toward lower body weight, waist circumference, blood glucose after meals and triglycerides. The authors concluded that yacon root shows evidence supporting its classification as a functional food for weight control and constipation relief, and that the limited quality of the included studies means higher-quality trials are needed.
• Nilghaz and colleagues, 2025 (7 randomised trials, 239 participants). No significant overall effect on fasting blood sugar, insulin, insulin resistance or blood fats; some subgroup effects with longer intake and in people over 40.
• Porbafrani and colleagues, 2026 (7 randomised trials, 246 participants). Weight reduction overall; no significant effect on body mass index, waist circumference or C-reactive protein.
• Pereira and colleagues, 2025 (7 studies, 161 participants, yacon syrup only). Reported reductions in fasting insulin, the insulin-resistance score and LDL cholesterol, with better satiety and faster intestinal transit. Results for blood sugar and insulin after a single meal were inconsistent, which the authors suggest is probably due to differences in each person's existing gut bacteria.
• Silva and colleagues, 2024 (7 studies, yacon flour only). Reported that yacon flour can reduce blood glucose, HbA1c (a three-month blood sugar marker), advanced glycation end products, blood fats, body fat, body weight and waist circumference, and called for more trials to establish how much is needed.

Taken together, the most consistent findings are on bowel habit. The findings on body weight lean in one direction but rest on few, small trials, and the findings on blood sugar and blood fats are mixed once trials are pooled.

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Yacon Syrup and Yacon Flour

Because the fresh root loses fructooligosaccharides in storage, much of the yacon sold far from the Andes is processed. Two forms dominate the research.

Yacon syrup is made by pulping the root, treating and filtering the juice, and concentrating it. A Brazilian analysis found that, besides fructooligosaccharides and chlorogenic acid, the syrup contained minerals such as potassium, calcium and phosphorus and essential amino acids such as tryptophan, valine and threonine (Silva and colleagues, 2018). A New Zealand yacon concentrate held 17.6 to 52.7 grams of fructooligosaccharides per 100 grams, 565 to 785 milligrams of phenolic compounds per 100 grams (as gallic acid equivalents), and tested at a glycaemic index of 40, which classifies it as a low-glycaemic-index food (Chessum and colleagues, 2022). The wide fructooligosaccharide range in a single type of product shows how much batches can differ. Syrup is still a concentrated sweet product, and the trials gave it in measured amounts, such as 20 grams a day or 40 grams with a single breakfast.

Yacon flour is dried, ground root. The Brazilian weight-loss trials gave 25 grams a day in a breakfast drink, and the trial in preschool children used flour mixed into food (see below). A freeze-dried yacon powder was used in the trial of older adults, whose authors described it as practical, easy and safe to use and store (Scheid and colleagues, 2014).

The fresh root eaten as a vegetable or fruit is the whole-food form. It has been tested less than the processed forms, and its fructooligosaccharide content depends on variety and on how long it has been stored, as described above.

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Digestive Side Effects and Other Reported Reactions

Fructooligosaccharides are fermented by gut bacteria, and fermentation makes gas. Fructans are also one of the groups in the FODMAP family (fermentable oligosaccharides, disaccharides, monosaccharides and polyols), which are a common trigger of symptoms in irritable bowel syndrome; see the Low-FODMAP Diet for Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) page. What the yacon trials themselves reported:

• Dose matters. The Argentine 120-day trial tested two doses of yacon syrup and reported 0.14 grams of fructooligosaccharides per kilogram of body weight per day as the intake with no undesirable gastrointestinal effects (Genta and colleagues, 2009). That implies that the higher dose tested, 0.29 grams per kilogram, did produce such effects.
• Lower doses were well tolerated. At 6.4 grams of fructooligosaccharides a day, bloating-related complaints were not reported significantly more often than with placebo (Geyer and colleagues, 2008). At 7.4 grams a day for 9 weeks in older adults, there was no bloating, flatulence or intestinal discomfort (Scheid and colleagues, 2014). The trial that gave 25 grams of yacon flour a day reported that it was well tolerated and did not cause adverse gastrointestinal effects (Machado and colleagues, 2019).
• Symptoms may fade. The 2025 review of yacon syrup trials reported mild gastrointestinal discomfort, and noted that with continued use the symptoms decreased (Pereira and colleagues, 2025).
• Allergy. A 2010 report from Korea describes a 55-year-old woman who fainted and developed hives over her whole body after eating yacon roots. Skin tests to yacon extract were positive, and a supervised food challenge reproduced the reaction within 10 minutes. The authors describe it as the first reported case of anaphylaxis after eating yacon root (Yun and colleagues, 2010). Anaphylaxis is a reaction hospitals treat as an emergency.
• Children. In a controlled trial in Brazilian nurseries, children aged 2 to 5 received yacon flour supplying 0.14 grams of fructooligosaccharides per kilogram of body weight a day for 18 weeks (59 children) or no yacon (58 children). The yacon group had higher blood levels of the immune signal IL-4 and more secretory IgA (an antibody of the gut lining) in stool, but also lower haemoglobin and lower red-cell haemoglobin measures at the end of the study. Red-cell zinc fell in both groups. The authors concluded that yacon showed no effect on iron and zinc status (Vaz-Tostes and colleagues, 2014).
• Rats. Dried yacon root flour fed to rats for 4 months at a low and a high intake level was well tolerated and produced no toxicity; the high dose enlarged the caecum, and post-meal blood triglycerides were lower (Genta and colleagues, 2005).

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The Leaf Is a Separate Product

Yacon leaf tea is a different product from yacon root, with a different chemistry and a mixed safety record. The leaves contain sesquiterpene lactones, of which enhydrin is the main one, concentrated on small surface hairs, as well as chlorogenic acids. No human trial of yacon leaf tea was found for this page; the evidence comes from rats and cells.

• Kidney damage in rats, 2011. Rats were given three yacon leaf extracts for 90 days: a tea-style water infusion, a leaf-rinse extract rich in sesquiterpene lactones, and an extract from leaves stripped of their surface hairs that contained no detectable sesquiterpene lactones. Rats given the tea-style infusion (10, 50 and 100 mg per kilogram) and the lactone-rich extract (10 and 100 mg per kilogram) developed changes in blood chemistry (including creatinine of 7.0 mg/dL and glucose of 212.0 mg/dL) that pointed to kidney damage, confirmed under the microscope. The lactone-free extract caused some blood chemistry changes but no serious organ lesions. The authors concluded that the blood-sugar-lowering effect seen in an earlier 30-day study was likely the result of kidney injury, identified the sesquiterpene lactones as the main toxic compounds, and wrote that they do not recommend the oral use of yacon leaves to treat diabetes (de Oliveira and colleagues, 2011).
• No harm found in rats, 2012. A separate group tested a 10% decoction of yacon leaves and purified enhydrin. In cells, viability fell as the concentration rose. In rats, single doses up to 14.0 grams of decoction per kilogram and 0.32 grams of enhydrin per kilogram caused no deaths or signs of toxicity, and 90 days of daily dosing (0.07 to 0.28 grams of decoction per kilogram, or 0.4 to 8.0 mg of enhydrin per kilogram) caused no blood, chemistry or tissue changes. The authors concluded that the decoction and enhydrin are safe in rats at the doses where blood-sugar lowering is seen (Barcellona and colleagues, 2012).

The two rat studies used different preparations and reached opposite conclusions, and neither was in people. None of the root findings on this page apply to the leaf, and the leaf findings do not describe the root, which is eaten as food.

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What Is Not Known

• Long-term effects. The longest adult trial found for this page lasted 120 days. The 2025 syrup review states that further research is needed to establish the best dose and long-term safety (Pereira and colleagues, 2025).
• Study size and quality. The adult trials described here enrolled between 11 and 72 people, where the abstract gives a number. The authors of the 2025 meta-analysis describe the included studies as of limited quality and call for higher-quality trials (Pan and colleagues, 2025).
• The whole root versus processed forms. Most trials used syrup, flour or powder. How the fresh root, eaten as a vegetable after ordinary storage, compares is largely untested in people.
• Cooking. No study read for this page measured how home cooking changes yacon's fructooligosaccharides.
• Who benefits. The 2023 trial suggests a person's existing gut bacteria shape the response, and several pooled results were significant only in women, people over 40 or longer interventions. These subgroup findings are hypotheses, not settled results.
• Hard outcomes. No trial measured whether yacon changes the risk of developing diabetes, heart disease or any other disease. The outcomes studied were markers: transit time, stool bacteria, blood glucose, insulin and body weight.
• The leaf. There are no human safety or efficacy trials of yacon leaf tea, and the two main rat studies conflict.

Decisions about using any food in large amounts for a medical purpose, especially alongside blood-sugar-lowering medicines, belong with a clinician.

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Key Research Papers

1. Pan LH, Yao ZW, Hu WF, Jia HT, Ren WL, Wang PP, Ling SP, Zhu H. Yacon root is a functional food beneficial for human health: a meta-analysis of clinical trials. Frontiers in Nutrition. 2025;12:1739768. PubMed PMID: 41459090
2. Geyer M, Manrique I, Degen L, Beglinger C. Effect of yacon (Smallanthus sonchifolius) on colonic transit time in healthy volunteers. Digestion. 2008;78(1):30-33. PubMed PMID: 18781073
3. Pereira MF, Soares IC, Cabral MM, de Freitas PA, Sousa GMA, Magalhães SC, Carioca AAF, de Oliveira MRC, Magalhães FEA, de Oliveira AC, Farias-Pereira R, de Oliveira KA. Impacts of Yacon Syrup (Smallanthus sonchifolius) on Human Health: A Systematic Review of Scientific Evidence from the Last Decade. Nutrients. 2025;17(5):888. PubMed PMID: 40077758
4. Porbafrani F, Samadi M, Parastouei K. The Effects of Yacon Consumption on Body Weight and C-reactive Protein: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials. Current Therapeutic Research, Clinical and Experimental. 2026;104:100817. PubMed PMID: 41685137
5. Nilghaz M, Sheikhhossein F, Samarin MM, Amini MR, Elahikhah M, Jalalzadeh M, Khakbaz M, Lohrasbi N, Etesamnia S, Torkizadeh F, Hekmatdoost A. The Effect of Yacon Consumption on Glycemic Control and Lipid Profiles: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomised Controlled Trials. Endocrinology, Diabetes & Metabolism. 2025;8(6):e70121. PubMed PMID: 41152200
6. Silva IFD, Bragante WR, Junior RCM, Laurindo LF, Guiguer EL, Araújo AC, Fiorini AMR, Nicolau CCT, Oshiiwa M, Lima EP, Barbalho SM, Silva LR. Effects of Smallanthus sonchifolius Flour on Metabolic Parameters: A Systematic Review. Pharmaceuticals (Basel). 2024;17(5):658. PubMed PMID: 38794228
7. Genta S, Cabrera W, Habib N, Pons J, Carillo IM, Grau A, Sánchez S. Yacon syrup: beneficial effects on obesity and insulin resistance in humans. Clinical Nutrition. 2009;28(2):182-187. PubMed PMID: 19254816
8. Scheid MM, Genaro PS, Moreno YM, Pastore GM. Freeze-dried powdered yacon: effects of FOS on serum glucose, lipids and intestinal transit in the elderly. European Journal of Nutrition. 2014;53(7):1457-1464. PubMed PMID: 24398786
9. Machado AM, da Silva NBM, Chaves JBP, Alfenas RCG. Consumption of yacon flour improves body composition and intestinal function in overweight adults: A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial. Clinical Nutrition ESPEN. 2019;29:22-29. PubMed PMID: 30661690
10. Machado AM, da Silva NBM, de Freitas RMP, de Freitas MBD, Chaves JBP, Oliveira LL, Martino HSD, de Cássia Gonçalves Alfenas R. Effects of yacon flour associated with an energy restricted diet on intestinal permeability, fecal short chain fatty acids, oxidative stress and inflammation markers levels in adults with obesity or overweight: a randomized, double blind, placebo controlled clinical trial. Archives of Endocrinology and Metabolism. 2021;64(5):597-607. PubMed PMID: 34033301
11. Ribeiro PVM, Veloso TG, de Oliveira LL, Mendes NP, Alfenas RCG. Consumption of yacon flour and energy-restricted diet increased the relative abundance of intestinal bacteria in obese adults. Brazilian Journal of Microbiology. 2023;54(4):3085-3099. PubMed PMID: 37807018
12. Adriano LS, Dionísio AP, Abreu FAP, Carioca AAF, Zocolo GJ, Wurlitzer NJ, Pinto CO, de Oliveira AC, Sampaio HAC. Yacon syrup reduces postprandial glycemic response to breakfast: A randomized, crossover, double-blind clinical trial. Food Research International. 2019;126:108682. PubMed PMID: 31732062
13. Sales SDS, Dionísio AP, Adriano LS, Melo BRC, Abreu FAP, Sampaio HAC, Silva IDCGD, Carioca AAF. Previous gut microbiota has an effect on postprandial insulin response after intervention with yacon syrup as a source of fructooligosaccharides: a randomized, crossover, double-blind clinical trial. Nutrition. 2023;109:111948. PubMed PMID: 36736091
14. Adriano LS, Dionísio AP, Pinto de Abreu FA, Wurlitzer NJ, Cordeiro de Melo BR, Ferreira Carioca AA, de Carvalho Sampaio HA. Acute postprandial effect of yacon syrup ingestion on appetite: A double blind randomized crossover clinical trial. Food Research International. 2020;137:109648. PubMed PMID: 33233227
15. Gomes da Silva MF, Dionísio AP, Ferreira Carioca AA, Silveira Adriano L, Pinto CO, Pinto de Abreu FA, Wurlitzer NJ, Araújo IM, Dos Santos Garruti D, Ferreira Pontes D. Yacon syrup: Food applications and impact on satiety in healthy volunteers. Food Research International. 2017;100(Pt 1):460-467. PubMed PMID: 28873709
16. de Souza Lima Sant'Anna M, Rodrigues VC, Araújo TF, de Oliveira TT, do Carmo Gouveia Peluzio M, de Luces Fortes Ferreira CL. Yacon-Based Product in the Modulation of Intestinal Constipation. Journal of Medicinal Food. 2015;18(9):980-986. PubMed PMID: 25692980
17. Pan LH, Hu WF, Fu ZY, Yu XC, Li ZQ, Guo MF, Wu JW, Zhu H. Yacon (Smallanthus sonchifolius) Root Increases Bowel Movement Frequency in Healthy Adults via Modulating Gut Microbiota and Intestinal Metabolites: A Pilot Study. Molecular Nutrition & Food Research. 2026;70(1):e70358. PubMed PMID: 41452254
18. Vaz-Tostes Md, Viana ML, Grancieri M, Luz TC, Paula Hd, Pedrosa RG, Costa NM. Yacon effects in immune response and nutritional status of iron and zinc in preschool children. Nutrition. 2014;30(6):666-672. PubMed PMID: 24631386
19. Campos D, Betalleluz-Pallardel I, Chirinos R, Aguilar-Galvez A, Noratto G, Pedreschi R. Prebiotic effects of yacon (Smallanthus sonchifolius Poepp. & Endl), a source of fructooligosaccharides and phenolic compounds with antioxidant activity. Food Chemistry. 2012;135(3):1592-1599. PubMed PMID: 22953898
20. Narai-Kanayama A, Tokita N, Aso K. Dependence of fructooligosaccharide content on activity of fructooligosaccharide-metabolizing enzymes in yacon (Smallanthus sonchifolius) tuberous roots during storage. Journal of Food Science. 2007;72(6):S381-S387. PubMed PMID: 17995694
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PubMed Topic Searches

1. PubMed: yacon randomised controlled trials
2. PubMed: yacon fructooligosaccharides and gut bacteria
3. PubMed: yacon storage and fructooligosaccharide content
4. PubMed: yacon leaf toxicity

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Connections

• Vegetables — the parent hub for this page
• Artichoke — another inulin-rich member of the daisy family
• Elecampane, Inulin and the Gut — the chemistry of fructans and the plant inulin is named after
• Almonds: Gut Microbiome and Prebiotic Effects — what "prebiotic" formally means
• Prebiotics — the families of prebiotic fibre compared
• Onion Prebiotic Fructans and Gut Bacteria — the same fibre family in an everyday vegetable
• Constipation — the outcome with the most consistent yacon findings
• Low-FODMAP Diet for Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) — why fructans trouble some digestive systems
• Type 2 Diabetes — context for the blood sugar and insulin findings

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