FIELD ADAPTATION OF SWEET POTATO GENOTYPES ENRICHED OF beta-CAROTENE, IN THE STATE OF GOIAS

Abstract

Most sweet potato genotypes marketed in Brazil have white, yellow or cream pulp color with negligible carotenoid contents. The use of beta-carotene rich sweet potato materials may contribute to improve people welfare, especially those at critical nutritional conditions. The yield-related traits and marketable tuber quality of 10 beta-carotene biofortified (or not) sweet potato genotypes were assessed in a Brazilian Cerrado area. Differences for all traits were found, with some materials prevailing. However, four of them (CNPH 1190, CNPH 1206, CNPH 1210 and CNPH 1310) showed good adaptability. CNPH 1210 had the highest yield (52.21 ton ha(-1)), 4.28 times higher than the Brazilian sweet potato average yield. CNPH 1210 and CNPH 1310 had the highest tuber numbers and the most preferred mass class for consumers, and therefore, they furnished the best marketable genotypes. Nevertheless, the materials CNPH 1210 and CNPH 1310 (both orange-fleshed sweet potatoes) stood out for tuber market quality. Our results may stimulate organized civil society efforts to improve the production and consumption of beta-carotene-rich sweet potato materials in municipalities in the Brazilian Cerrado.