Biomass yield and composition of sweetpotato grown in a nutrient film technique system

Abstract

Sweetpotato cultivar TU-82-155 grown in a nutrient film technique system and separated into foliage, tips, fibrous, string and storage roots at harvest had a total dry biomass of 89.9 g per plant with 38.4% inedible portion. Tips and storage roots, the traditional edible parts, were analyzed for dry matter, protein, fat, ash, minerals (Ca, Fe, K, Mg, Na, Zn), vitamins (carotene, ascorbic acid, thiamin), oxalic and tannic acids, and trypsin and chymotrypsin inhibitors to determine their nutritional quality. Water soluble matter, minerals (Ca, Fe, K, Mg, Na, Zn), cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin concentrations in the edible and inedible parts were obtained to provide information needed for the selection of appropriate bioconversion processes of plant wastes into food or forms suitable for crop production in a controlled biological life support system.

Effect of Nutrient Solution Concentration on the Growth of Hydroponic Sweetpotato

“…Sweetpotato plants fail to develop storage roots under continuous waterlogging conditions [41][42][43]. Therefore, several studies have established hydroponic methods of sweetpotato cultivation to avoid soaking the hypertrophic sites of roots in water [41][42][43][44][45][46][47][48][49]. Substrates that ensure proper root aeration, such as rockwool, vermiculite, and sand, have been used for the hydroponic cultivation of sweetpotato [43][44][45].…”

“…Additionally, rockwool slab-based hydroponic systems have been demonstrated to produce thickened sweetpotato storage roots between the hydroponic solution surface and rockwool slabs [46]. Similarly, the nutrient film technique and modified deep flow technique have been shown to induce storage root formation at an area where roots are not continuously immersed in the hydroponic solution [41,[47][48][49]. Although some hydroponic methods for sweetpotato have been developed to date, studies on sweetpotato hydroponic NSC are limited.…”