Diosgenin wastewater produced from Dioscorea zingiberensis C. H. Wright in diosgenin enterprise is the by-product of numerous operations chiefly including washing raw materials, acid hydrolysis, and cleaning the apparatus with water. It requires the removal of high concentrations of various organic and inorganic contaminants from this wastewater in order to avoid pollution to the environment and fresh water system. Currently, several different methods such as chemical, physicochemical, biological recovery resource, constructed wetland, and integrated methods of these processes are being applied for treating diosgenin wastewater. Aiming to get a comprehensive overview, available reports from experimental scale to industry scale about the treatment of this wastewater were collected and summarized. Therefore, this review paper will provide appropriate choice for the efficient treatment of diosgenin wastewater and supportive information for the other scientists who want to continue this valuable research in the future.

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• Studies of diosgenin wastewater treatment between 2003 and 2016 are reviewed. • Characteristics of diosgenin wastewater are presented. • These methods used for diosgenin wastewater are compared. • Merits and demerits of each approach to cope with diosgenin wastewater are stated. • Future promising ways should be updated based on currently available ones.