Breeding Progress for Vitamin A, Iron and Zinc Biofortification, Drought Tolerance, and Sweetpotato Virus Disease Resistance in Sweetpotato

Bairu

2022

Plants

Sweet potato is an important world staple with the potential to address hunger and malnutrition. The Agricultural Research Council of South Africa has led sweet potato breeding efforts in the country since 1952 and released several important cultivars. More detailed quality assessments are necessary in addition to general breeding criteria. The present study investigated sweet potato cultivars and elite clones for (1) their nutritional composition; (2) biochemical reaction to drought stress; (3) correlate biochemical reaction to root yield for possible identification of screening methods for drought tolerance in sweet potato. Orange-fleshed cultivars, in particular Bophelo, had superior contents of Fe, Zn, Mg, Ca, Mn, and dietary fiber. Cream-fleshed cultivars, particularly Ndou, were higher in starch and carbohydrate. When sweet potato cultivars were subjected to drought stress, significant changes were noted in most antioxidant enzymes, chlorophyll and proline concentrations, and 13C discrimination. All of these showed significant correlations with root yield. For screening of drought tolerance, the determination of nitrate reductase, proline, and chlorophyll concentrations at 60 days after planting are recommended. Ndou was less affected by drought stress. Bophelo and Ndou, which are gaining popularity on the informal market, have superior nutritional value and are good cultivar choices for food security and addressing malnutrition.

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Sweet potato ( Ipomoea batatas (L.) LAM) is considered a “resilient food crop with great potential to contribute to reducing hunger in the world” [ 2 ]. The crop is the seventh most important world staple, and its production was 100 million metric tons in 2019 [ 3 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Analysis of the Nutritional Composition and Drought Tolerance Traits of Sweet Potato: Selection Criteria for Breeding Lines

Bairu

2022

Plants

“…It is a sustainable and cost-effective strategy to address all forms of malnutrition, particularly in the developing world. Crop biofortification has been successful in developing and releasing micronutrients (Fe and Zn) or provitamin A dense grain and root (orange-fleshed sweet potato, OFSP) crops across continents [ 99 , 100 ]. Micronutrient deficiency is widespread in the Africa, Asia, and Latin America, and regular consumption of biofortified crops has been shown to increase micronutrient intakes and thus help meet the sustainable development goals [ 101 ].…”

Section: Biofortification To Redesign Next-generation Anthocyanins Ri...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Anthocyanin-Rich Vegetables for Human Consumption—Focus on Potato, Sweetpotato and Tomato

Mattoo

Dwivedi²,

Dutt

et al. 2022

IJMS

Malnutrition, unhealthy diets, and lifestyle changes have become major risk factors for non-communicable diseases while adversely impacting economic growth and sustainable development. Anthocyanins, a group of flavonoids that are rich in fruits and vegetables, contribute positively to human health. This review focuses on genetic variation harnessed through crossbreeding and biotechnology-led approaches for developing anthocyanins-rich fruit and vegetable crops. Significant progress has been made in identifying genes involved in anthocyanin biosynthesis in various crops. Thus, the use of genetics has led to the development and release of anthocyanin-rich potato and sweet potato cultivars in Europe and the USA. The purple potato ’Kufri Neelkanth’ has been released for cultivation in northern India. In Europe, the anthocyanin-rich tomato cultivar ‘Sun Black’ developed via the introgression of Aft and atv genes has been released. The development of anthocyanin-rich food crops without any significant yield penalty has been due to the use of genetic engineering involving specific transcription factors or gene editing. Anthocyanin-rich food ingredients have the potential of being more nutritious than those devoid of anthocyanins. The inclusion of anthocyanins as a target characteristic in breeding programs can ensure the development of cultivars to meet the nutritional needs for human consumption in the developing world.

“…Likewise, the consumers of sweet potatoes have particular requirements regarding the nutritional quality of the roots, associated with shape and appearance. Furthermore, demanding nutritional consumers are also aware that sweet potatoes with colored pulp, especially orange-fleshed and purple-fleshed sweet potato, own bioactive compounds in their composition that are beneficial to their health ( Truong et al, 2018 ; Ricachenevsky et al, 2019 ; Low et al, 2020 ; Mwanga et al, 2021 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sweet Potato New Varieties Screening Based on Morphology, Pulp Color, Proximal Composition, and Total Dietary Fiber Content via Factor Analysis and Principal Component Analysis

et al. 2022

A sample set of 18 sweet potatoes [Ipomoea batatas (L.) Lam] segmented into six registered cultivars and 12 new varieties were evaluated. The 142 tuberous roots were obtained from a sweet potato germplasm bank (BAG-sweet potato; -27.417713768824555 and -49.64874168439556), specifically from plants belonging to a sweet potato breeding program. All samples were characterized according to their morphology, instrumental pulp color, proximate composition, and total dietary fiber. The analytical results were submitted to parametric and non-parametric statistical tests for sample variance data comparison. Moreover, the screening of the cultivars and new varieties was performed by exploratory statistical analysis, factor analysis (FA), and principal component analysis (PCA). From the sixteen independent variables that characterized the samples, the exploratory FA identified thirteen that had a communality greater than 0.7, with 92.08% of assertiveness. The PCA generated 4 principal components able to account for 84.01% of the explanatory variance. So, among the six registered cultivars, SCS372 Marina and SCS370 Luiza showed the capability to be employed as cultivars for production. Among the 12 sweet potato new varieties, samples 17025-13, 17125-10, and 17117 met the requirements for patent and registration. These results will be useful to farmers who wish to use these sweet potatoes in the development of their crops.