Abstract
Roots of orange-fleshed sweet potato varieties currently available in Nigeria contain high quantities of β-carotene or pro-vitamin A but have high moisture content. These varieties have been found to be a cheap and crucially important remedy for vitamin A deficiency. The cream or white-fleshed varieties, on the other hand, have a sweet taste with high dry matter content, giving a dry texture, a quality trait preferred in Nigeria. Development of sweet potato genotypes that can combine these two important quality traits is the objective of this breeding work. A diallel experiment using six parental sweet potato genotypes crossed in all possible combinations were carried out and thirty progenies were evaluated for beta carotene (β-carotene) and dry matter content in Landmark University, Omu Aran, Kwara State, Nigeria. The 30 F1 progenies along with their parental lines were planted in the same field trial. The trial was laid out in 6 x 6 triple lattice in two replications. Highly significant (P≤ 0.01) differences were observed among the genotypes for the traits. The average β-carotene content among the progenies was 2.86 (mg/100g.f.w) while the dry matter cttgontent had a mean value of 31.89%. The cross progenies 199024.2 x Excel had the highest beta carotene (14.37mg/100g.f.w) content with the highest dry matter content (40.10%) and are therefore recommended for further evaluation.
Highlights
Sweet potato [Ipomoea batatas (L.) Lam] is the seventh most important crop in the world with an estimated 124 million metric tons produced annually
The quantitative traits were evaluated as follows: β- carotene content expressed as mg 100 g-1 and dry matter content (g) expressed as a percentage of root fresh mass (g)
4.1 General and Specific Combining Ability for β-carotene Content and Dry Matter Content. Both general combining ability (GCA) and specific combining ability (SCA) variances were significantly (Table 5), this suggests that both additive and non-additive gene effects played a major role in the inheritance of β-carotene and dry matter content
Summary
Sweet potato [Ipomoea batatas (L.) Lam] is the seventh most important crop in the world with an estimated 124 million metric tons produced annually. Sweet potato is a staple because they are easy to propagate and maintain and yield well under a variety of adverse conditions, including drought. The potential of this crop as a food and a carbohydrate source is widely recognized [3]. The attributes considered most important by farmers and consumers were already identified and ranked by Rees et al [4]. There is wide genetic variability for vitamin A occurring naturally in sweetpotato. This means conventional breeding techniques can be employed to combine β‐carotene and dry matter into sweetpotato varieties
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