Quality parameters in orange flesh sweetpotato grown in different Brazilian states

Abstract

Blind starvation caused by micronutrient deficiency is a major issue in many countries. The use of crops with higher micronutrient content, also known as biofortification, is one of different strategies to overcome this issue. Brazil has been using this approach within the last years but in order to expand this program it is necessary to characterize and develop new cultivars that meet consumer’s demands. Three orange fleshed sweet potato genotypes were evaluated in eight different site locations with different soil, management and altitude conditions. Total soluble sugars, carotenoids, dry matter and sensory evaluation were performed. β-carotene was the predominant carotenoid in the three sweet potato genotypes. This provitamin A compound was consistently higher than 70 μg g−1 in all genotypes, independent of site locations. CIP BRS Nuti cultivar presented significant higher dry matter and sucrose content in comparison with Beauregard and Clone 11. These last genotypes presented higher fructose and glucose content than CIP BRS Nuti. Acceptance evaluation demonstrated that despite having different organoleptic characteristics, CIP BRS Nuti and Beauregard were preferred by tasters. This finding is relevant since CIP BRS Nuti is a new commercial sweetpotato cultivar that will be part of the portfolio of biofortified cultivars in Brazil.