Water yam (Dioscorea alata L.) is an important tuber crop containing essential nutrition as an alternative food source. This study aimed to analyze the biochemical composition and nutritional value of fresh tuber of fifteen local accessions of water yam from East Java and followed by the accession selection for the recommendation of accession with the best nutritional value. Results showed that the nutritional value of proximates including moisture, carbohydrate and fiber were significantly different; except in protein, fat, and ash, with the range of moisture (65.47-82.46%), carbohydrate (17.10-29.37%), protein (1.29-3.00%), fat (0.00-0.29%), fiber (6.70-11.62%) and ash (0.85-1.44%). The ranges of mineral contents (mg/100g) were K (224.54-483.21), Ca (15.63-61.97), Mg (16.75-43.06), Fe (1.40-13.40), Zn (0.43-2.83) and P (329.37-699.91); Na mostly not detected. The anti-nutritions contents (mg/100g) comprised tannin (63.36-167.68) and oxalic acid (12.73-44.92). Analysis through HCA showed three clusters with a range of similarity from 67% to 96%; through PCA scatter biplot clearly illustrated the variation and correlation pattern among local accessions. Six promising accessions are recommended for further breeding and development i.e. Uwi Perti/30, Uwi Bangkulit/36, Uwi Bangkulit/42, Uwi Bangkulit/43, Uwi Biru/58 and Uwi Legi/66, based on their highest carbohydrates and protein content, and the lowest fat content.

Abstract. Metusala D, Fauziah, Lestari DA, Damaiyani J, Mas’udah S, Setyawan H. 2020. The identification of plant reliefs in the Lalitavistara story of Borobudur temple, Central Java, Indonesia. Biodiversitas 21: 2206-2215. The Lalitavistara sutra is one of the central texts in the Mahayana tradition and it describes the life of the Buddha. This sutra has been carved in a good detail into 120 relief panels. These reliefs showed many plant figures that have often been carved in proper shape, so that made it possible for identification. The identification results showed that there were at least 63 species of plants in the Lalitavistara relief at Borobudur and these more various than species mentioned in the Lalitavistara sutra. Some species even only be found on reliefs but not in the text. These findings have indicated several important points; (i). the ancient Javanese community at that time already had a high awareness of the plant diversity, (ii). the plant figures as component in building atmosphere/background have been used by the carver as an opportunity for improvisation, (iii). the plant reliefs in Borobudur can be seen to reflect the surrounding plant diversity at the time, and (iv). the identification of plant reliefs in Borobudur can be used as an approach to understand the perspective of an ancient Javanese community on the importance of plant diversity.

Uwi (Dioscorea alata L.) merupakan jenis tanaman umbi-umbian berpotensi nutrisi. Namun pemanfaatannya sebagai bahan pangan alternatif masih jarang, karena keterbatasan informasi potensi nutrisi dan sistem budidaya. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk menentukan faktor-faktor lingkungan yang berpengaruh terhadap pertumbuhan uwi. Penelitian dilakukan di lahan percobaan di Kabupaten Pasuruan, pada tujuh aksesi yang dipilih berdasarkan hasil penelitian sebelumnya, yaitu aksesi nomor 28, 36, dan 86 (Pasuruan), 42 dan 43 (Nganjuk), 57 dan 66 (Malang). Parameter lingkungan yang diamati meliputi suhu udara, kelembaban udara, intensitas cahaya, pH tanah, kelembaban tanah, jumlah dan jenis gulma. Hasil pengamatan dianalisis secara deskriptif dan statistik dengan uji Biplot menggunakan software Past 3. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa intensitas cahaya dan jumlah jenis gulma merupakan faktor lingkungan yang paling berpengaruh pada pertumbuhan tanaman uwi. Terdapat tiga grup aksesi tanaman uwi berdasarkan perbedaan faktor lingkungan yang mempengaruhi pertumbuhannya. Aksesi 42, 43 dan 57 dipengaruhi oleh suhu dan kelembaban udara, aksesi 28, 36 dan 66 dipengaruhi oleh intensitas cahaya dan aksesi 86 dipengaruhi oleh pH tanah. Analisis deskriptif menunjukkan bahwa sebagian besar gulma yang tumbuh merupakan tanaman invasif yang mempengaruhi pertumbuhan tanaman komoditas. Aksesi nomor 42, 43 dan 57 direkomendasikan untuk dibudidayakan di lahan sub optimal dengan kondisi pH asam dan minim air.AbstractWater yam (Dioscorea alataL.) is one of the tubers potentially as nutrition source. However, its utilization as the source of food alternative is still rare causes by limited information about its nutritional content and cultivation. The research aimed to determine the environmental factors effects the growth of water yam. The study was conducted in the trial site at Pasuruan with seven selected accessions of water yam based on previous research i.e. accessions number 28, 36 and 86 (Pasuruan), 42 and 43 (Nganjuk), 57 and 66 (Malang). The observed environmental parameters were the number and type of weeds, temperature, humidity, light intensity, soil pH, and soil moisture. The observations were descriptive and statistically analyzed using Biplot test with Past 3 software. The results showed that the light intensity and the number of weed species are the environmental factors that have the most affected on the growth of water yam plants. Accessions 28, 36 and 66 are affected by light intensity, accession 86 is affected by soil pH, and accessions 42, 43 and 57 are affected by air temperature and humidity. Most of the weeds grown in the study area are invasive species, which affect the growth of cultivated crops, so weeding is needed. Accession number 42, 43 and 57 adaptively grow in sub-optimum land with acidic pH conditions and minimum water capacity.

Dioscorea spp. is the edible tubers from Dioscoreaceae family. Dioscorea is also an important crop which serves as a staple food and medicine. Discoreaceae exploration collecting mission had been conducted in 10 Districts of Pasuruan, East Java. Forty-four accessions were obtained during the exploration. It comprised of 5 species and 29 varieties i.e. 17 varieties of Dioscorea alata L., 8 varieties of Dioscorea hispida Dennst., 2 varieties of Dioscorea esculenta (Lour.) Burkill., 1 variety of Dioscorea pentaphylla L. and 1 variety of Dioscorea bulbifera L. The results showed that morphological characteristic features of Dioscorea spp. tubers were broadly varied among species and even within varieties at the same species. Dioscorea spp. varieties originated from Pasuruan were mostly characterized by its tuber shape, tuber flesh colour, outer and inner skin colour and tubers skin texture. Based on the interviews to local farmers, D. alata and D. hispida varieties were still widely grown because of its high tuber yields and its most acceptable taste than other Dioscorea species.

Abstract. Mas’udah S, Fauziah, Hapsari L. 2019. Cluster analysis of Dioscorea alata accessions of Purwodadi Botanic Gardens (Indonesia) collection based on morphological characteristics and SSR markers. Cell Biol Dev 3: 6-12. The morphological characteristics of D. alata accessions show a high diversity, especially the tubers with varying form, size, weight, color, and flesh. Classification and naming of D. alata accessions generally use different local names in each region, causing problems. This study aimed to classify 20 accession numbers of D. alata collection of Purwodadi Botanic Garden collected from East Java based on tuber morphological characteristics and simple sequence repeat (SSR) molecular markers. Based on the morphological characteristic, the accessions showed high variation. However, from the seventeen characters observed, two characters were similar, and 15 others were diverse. The main morphological characteristics that contribute to the cluster are tuber skin color, tuber shape, and the color of the inner skin of the tuber. Clustering results based on DNA amplification showed different groups compared to the morphological characters cluster, although some accessions with close morphological characters were in the same molecular Group. The accession origin could not be used as the group marker. Marker E11 and A7 have the highest polymorphisms in this experiment. As conservation strategies, accessions with high-level similarity could be represented by one accession for maintenance efficiency. Conserving species until varieties level with different characters could enrich germplasm for breeding development.