Exploring the rich diversity of Hausa potatoes, taro, and yam in East Java

Abstract

Food and nutrition are very important and strategic elements in increasing national productivity and improving the population’s quality of life. FAO states that people suffering from malnutrition in Indonesia are caused by food consumption patterns which are dominated by the grain group. The low consumption of the tuber group is due to the availability of this food ingredient, besides being low, access to it is also difficult, especially in the dry season, due to the dormancy of the tubers. Hausa potatoes, taro, and yam are types of tubers that have not been widely developed by the community. Exploration activities carried out in East Java are expected to increase the diversity of local food sources, which have high production potential and functional food properties, and also to look for superior accessions that can be developed as functional food. The evaluation method for several accessions was carried out using observing morphological descriptions and evaluating nutritional composition. Data were analyzed by clustering analysis and comparing the nutrition content of tubers with rice. The exploration results showed several variations in characters in the accessions of Hausa potato, taro, and yam. From the results of this exploration, the accessions were grouped into 2 large groups, based on tuber size and tuber color, where these characteristics are supporting components in the development of functional food. Hausa potato accessions BWI 3, yam accessions Yam_05, Yam_02, and Yam_04, as well as taro accessions MLG 2 and LMJ 2 can be used as functional food candidates to replace rice.