Accessible Morphological and Genetic Markers for Identification of Taioba and Taro, Two Forgotten Human Foods

María Sepúlveda-Nieto,Cairo Faleiros De Figueiredo,Fernando Bonifacio-Anacleto,Ana Alzate-Marin,Rômulo De Moraes-Filho

doi:10.3390/horticulturae3040049

María Sepúlveda-Nieto, Cairo Faleiros De Figueiredo + Show 3 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/horticulturae3040049

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Abstract

Some tropical species—such as the domesticated Xanthosoma sagittifolium (L.) Schott (Taioba) and Colocasia esculenta (L.) Schott (Taro)—have similar phenotypic characteristics, especially in the shape and color of the leaves and petioles which generate uncertainty in their identification for use in human food. This study aimed to analyze the morphological and molecular characteristics of X. sagittifolium and C. esculenta that may help in the popular and scientific identification of these species. The principal morphological characteristics of X. sagittifolium were as follows: leaves with subcoriaceous textures, basal insertion of the petiole, green pseudo-stem in the basal portion with exudate being white and the presence of two collector veins. Distinctive morphological characteristics of C. esculenta were as follows: leaves with velvety textures, peltate insertion of the petiole, pink pseudo-stem in the basal portion with pink exudate and presence of one collector vein. The morphological characteristics that can be used to distinguish Taioba from Taro are the basal petiole insertion of the first, against the petiole insertion near the center of the blade of the latter. Molecular analyses using eight Inter-Simple Sequence Repeat (ISSR) molecular markers simultaneously showed distinctive fingerprints for each of the species. These results contribute to the proper identification of the species used as a food source.

Highlights

The Araceae is a family that consists of 109 genera and approximately 2830 species that are widely distributed, mostly in the tropical, subtropical, and temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere [1].The Araceae family is divided into several subfamilies based on the variation of habitats, disposition, and leaf morphology, the structure of the inflorescence and pollen, floral morphology, anatomy, and chromosome number [2]
The species Xanthosoma sagittigolium (L.) Schott is exclusively of Neotropical origin; it has been introduced in many tropical areas and cultivated as a food plant in developing countries, and it Horticulturae 2017, 3, 49; doi:10.3390/horticulturae3040049
This study aimed at the following: (1) to analyze the morphological characteristics of X. sagittifolium and C. esculenta (Araceae) taxa and highlight those that allow easy differentiation in the field, (2) to evaluate and identify molecular Inter-Simple Sequence Repeat (ISSR) markers that may help in the identification of these species, and (3) to compare these two species morphologically and molecularly with two additional taxa, Xanthosoma violaceum Schott and Xanthosoma undipes (K.Koch & C.D.Bouché) K.Koch

Summary

Introduction

The Araceae is a family that consists of 109 genera and approximately 2830 species that are widely distributed, mostly in the tropical, subtropical, and temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere [1].The Araceae family is divided into several subfamilies based on the variation of habitats, disposition, and leaf morphology, the structure of the inflorescence and pollen, floral morphology, anatomy, and chromosome number [2]. The Araceae is a family that consists of 109 genera and approximately 2830 species that are widely distributed, mostly in the tropical, subtropical, and temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere [1]. The genera Alocasia, Colocasia, and Xanthosoma of this family are important due to their ornamental use or for the starch obtained from their corms [1]. The species Xanthosoma sagittigolium (L.) Schott is exclusively of Neotropical origin; it has been introduced in many tropical areas and cultivated as a food plant in developing countries, and it Horticulturae 2017, 3, 49; doi:10.3390/horticulturae3040049 www.mdpi.com/journal/horticulturae. Colocasia esculenta (L.) Schott is a cultivated species native to tropical Asia and naturalized throughout the tropics, and is valued as a rich source of digestible protein [3,5]

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