Yucca Species.

With over 50 identified species, this tall and imposing member of the agave family is often grown for its dramatic effect in a garden, giving big impact with minimal effort. Native to the dry lands of south western Canada to Panama, it was highly valued by indigenous people for its hard, timber-like stalk, it fibrous leaves and its detergent, foaming tuber. Leaf fibres were soaked and beaten out then used for matting and ropes. Flower buds and petals were eaten. Fruits were fermented to make alcoholic beverages. Roots were used for detergent action, as a skin cleanser, and as a purgative if taken internally in excess.

Yuccas are xerophytic, dry loving plants, and exhibit a very unique system of pollination using moths. Two particular types of moth have co-adapted with yucca over an estimated 35 million years so that now all yuccas except one species are pollinated by specific moths. Yucca moths pollinate the flowers and then lay their eggs in the seed capsules of yuccas. About 60% of the moth species are limited to just one species of yucca and it suggested that they are guided to the flowers by distinct scents. Female yucca moths use their mouth to gather pollen from the flowers and to deposit it on female flower parts.  This is a process called mutualism whereby an insect or animal and a plant become essential to each others reproduction and survival.

 

Modern research

Modern studies on its chemistry and actions have included Y. glauca, Y. schidigera and others, and all seem to be biochemically useful.

Currently, Yucca products are GRAS (Generally Recognised As Safe) certified by the FDA for human consumption and are widely used in the food, pharmaceutical, and cosmetic industries as foaming agents due to their high saponin content.

The root contains steroidal saponin compounds that foam and have a detergent action in water, hence the traditional use as a washing agent. However, these saponin molecules, including diosgenin, sarsapogenin, smilagenin and various sterols, are also responsible for much of the medicinal action. Functioning as building blocks for the body to make endo-steroids like cortisone, androgens and estrogen, this root can be used to reduce inflammation and to regulated and normalize reproductive hormones, especially in men.

It has a tissue specificity to joints, synovial membranes and arthritic inflammation. Yucca is a rich source of polyphenolics, including resveratrol and a number of other stilbenes (yuccaols A, B, C, D and E). These phenolics have anti-inflammatory activity. Yucca phenolics are also anti-oxidants and free-radical scavengers, which may aid in suppressing reactive oxygen species that stimulate inflammatory responses.

“These antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties are mainly generated through free radical scavenging activity, the inhibition of arachidonic acid metabolism, the decrease in TNF-α (Tumor necrosis factor-α), IL-6 (Interleukin-6), iNOS (Inducible nitric oxide synthase), and IL-1β (Interleukin 1β) concentration, the increase of GPx (Glutathione peroxidase), CAT (Catalase), and SOD (Superoxide dismutase) concentration, and the inhibition of the MAPK (Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase), and NF-κB (Nuclear factor kappa B), and the activation of the Nrf2 (Nuclear factor erythroid 2–related factor) signaling pathway.”   (Culhuac 2023)

The sterols including beta-sitosterol  and stigmasterol, provide an anti-cholesterol effect, lowering lipids and normalizing triglycerides. They sequester cholesterol residues in the bowel and encourage fecal elimination of fatty wastes.

Some species of yucca are antimicrobial. For example Y. schidigera, Y. gigantean and Y. baccata have saponins, flavonoids, and phenolic compounds that appear to be responsible for the noted antimicrobial properties against Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria, and fungal Candida albicans

 

Making the best medicine

The sapogenins are glycosidal, bound to sugars, and if ingested whole will require fermentation by an intact and functioning gut microflora. When made into an extract they require a solvent, typically 65% ethyl alcohol.

Certain sugars in the flowers of Yucca glauca may inhibit melanoma cells. A tincture of fresh flowers yielded two galactose containing polysaccharide fractions with marked inhibitory activity against B16 melanoma in mice. To extract them a lower alcohol tincture or a simple cold infusion can be made.

References

Attallah NGM, El-Sherbeni SA, El-Kadem AH, Elekhnawy E, El-Masry TA, Elmongy EI, Altwaijry N, Negm WA. Elucidation of the Metabolite Profile of Yucca gigantea and Assessment of Its Cytotoxic, Antimicrobial, and Anti-Inflammatory Activities. Molecules. 2022; 27(4):1329. https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules27041329

Cheeke PR,  Piacente SD,  and Oleszek W, (2006), Anti-inflammatory and anti-arthritic effects of Yucca schidigera: A review, J Inflamm. (Lond). 3: 6.
Published online 2006 Mar 29. PMCID: PMC1440857

Ghallab, D. S., Mustafa, R., Mostafa, S. R., El-Shiekh, R. A., & El Newehy, N. M. (2025). Yucca schidigera Roezl ex ortgies (Mojave yucca): an updated review of its phytochemistry, ethnopharmacological, and pharmacological properties. Natural Product Research, 1–12. https://doi.org/10.1080/14786419.2025.2592901

Guerrero-Encinas, I., González-González, J.N., García-Utrera, C.K. et al. Effects of Yucca Genus Plants on Enteropathogenic Bacteria and Parasites. Rev. Bras. Farmacogn. 35, 516–531 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1007/s43450-025-00632-0

Pacheco-Hernández Y, Lozoya-Gloria E, Velásquez-Hernández F. E., Ramírez-García S. A, Varela-Caselis J. L.,  Villa-Ruano N., Chem. Biodiversity 2024, 21, e202401331. https://doi.org/10.1002/cbdv.202401331

Patel, S. Yucca: A medicinally significant genus with manifold therapeutic attributes. Nat. Prod. Bioprospect. 2, 231–234 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13659-012-0090-4