Authors : Remy Titien Niyireeba, Cyprian Ebong, Ben Lukuyu, Sammy Agili, Jan Low and Charles Gachuiri
Abstract: Dual-purpose sweetpotato is gaining recognition as a food and fodder crop. The quality of the vines depends on several factors including genotype and environment. Cutting vines before root harvest can increase yields and fodder quality of vines. But, the effect on root quality has not been sufficiently investigated. This study was conducted to determine the effects of agro-ecology (n = 3), genotype (n = 7) and vines cuts (n = 3) on chemical composition and Metabolizable (ME) energy concentrations in vines and on farmers’ preference of the roots. Dry Matter (DM) concentrations were lower in vines than in roots. It tended to be higher in ratoons than in vines cut only once at 160 DAP. Varieties differed significantly in the concentrations NDF (p = 0.0315), ADF (p = 0.026) and ADL (p = 0.0032) but not in CP and ME (p>0.05). Vine that were cut at 80 DAP had significantly lower concentrations of the fiber components (p<0.0001) and significantly higher concentrations of CP and ME than regrowth and intact vines cut at 160 DAP (p<0.0001). Ecozones differed significantly in contents of ADF (p = 0.026), ADL (0.0032) and ME (p = 0.0056). Cojoint analysis of preference scores revealed that variety accounted for 74.0,67.1 and 36.1% of the scores for texture, sweetness and color respective. Ratooning accounted for 5.2, 2.6 and 4.6% of the scores for texture, sweetness and color, respectively. Gender accounted for 20.8, 30.3 and 37.9% of the preference scores for texture, sweetness and color, respectively. The results proved that cutting vines twice at 80 days before and again at root harvest (160 DAP) improved vine quality without affecting root quality.
Remy Titien Niyireeba, Cyprian Ebong, Ben Lukuyu, Sammy Agili, Jan Low and Charles Gachuiri, 2013. Effects of Location, Genotype and Ratooning on Chemical Composition of Sweetpotato [Ipomea batatas (L.) Lam] Vines and Quality Attributes of the Roots. Agricultural Journal, 8: 315-321.