Economic analysis of banana peel and sweet potato vines in diets for rabbits.

This study aimed to evaluate the costs of using banana peel (BP) and sweet potato vine (SPV) in rabbit diets. BP and SPV were chosen to replace maize and alfalfa hay, because, in addition to the ingredients having similar nutritional characteristics, they are among the most expensive ingredients in rabbit diets. Data were obtained through a biological assay carried out in the Cuniculture Laboratory of the Universidade Federal de Santa Maria, Santa Maria, RS, Brazil. Fifty New Zealand white rabbits, weaned at 35 days of age, were fed during the growth phase (35 to 84 days) with increasing levels of BP and SPV, replacing maize and alfalfa hay (T0, T25, T50, T75 and T100% replacement). A diet containing 100% replacement (T100) had the lowest cost per kilogram, which was R$ 1.18/kg, while the controlled diet was 57% more expensive, costing R$ 2.08/kg. The total operating cost to produce a rabbit with control treatment was R$10.93/head and at T100, it was R$6.51/head. The animal income for a live rabbit was R$ 24.08 and R$ 23.95 in treatments T0 and T100, respectively. Regarding the gain margin per animal (GMA), in TO it was R$ 13.16 while in T100 it was R$ 17.44, therefore the GMA was 32.55% higher when using the T100 diet. In conclusion, it is more economical and feasible to feed rabbits with diets containing 100% BP and SPV, replacing maize and alfalfa hay.

Genetic diversity assessment and genome-wide association study reveal candidate genes associated with component traits in sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas (L.) Lam).

The Korean sweet potatoes were bred by various cultivars introduced from Japanese, American, Porto Rico, China, and Burundi. This issue enriched their genetic diversity but also resulted in a mixture of cultivars. For genotyping, we collected and sequenced 66 sweet potato germplasms from different localities around Korea, including 36 modern cultivars, 5 local cultivars, and 25 foreign cultivars. This identified 447.6 million trimmed reads and 324.8 million mapping reads and provided 39,424 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) markers. Phylogenetic clustering and population structure analysis distinctly classified these germplasms into 5 genetic groups, group 1, group 2, group 3, group 4, and group 5, containing 20, 15, 10, 7, and 14 accessions, respectively. Sixty-three significant SNPs were selected by genome-wide association for sugar composition-related traits (fructose, glucose, and total sugars), total starch, amylose content, and total carotenoid of the storage root. A total of 37 candidate genes encompassing these significant SNPs were identified, among which, 7 genes were annotated to involve in sugar and starch metabolism, including galactose metabolism (itf04g30630), starch and sucrose metabolism (itf03g13270, itf15g09320), carbohydrate metabolism (itf14g10250), carbohydrate and amino acid metabolism (itf12g19270), and amino sugar and nucleotide sugar metabolism (itf03g21950, itf15g04880). This results indicated that sugar and starch are important characteristics to determine the genetic diversity of sweet potatoes. These findings not only illustrate the importance of component traits to genotyping sweet potatoes but also explain an important reason resulting in genetic diversity of sweet potato.

Batata-doce em dietas para juvenis de tilápia em substituição parcial ao farelo de milho: uma análise econômica e de variáveis zootécnicas / Sweet potato in diets for tilapia juveniles in partial replacement to corn bran: An economic analysis and zootechnical variables

Objetivou-se avaliar o desempenho e a viabilidade econômica da substituição parcial do farelo de milho pela farinha de batata-doce, para averiguar se é viável ou não a inclusão nas rações para tilápia. O experimento teve duração de 30 dias entre os meses de maio e junho de 2021 em delineamento experimental inteiramente casualizado com 4 tratamentos e 5 repetições. Entre os 4 tratamentos propostos, 3 eram compostos por diferentes níveis de substituição do farelo de milho pela farinha de batata-doce nas rações experimentais (0,0%; 5,0% e 10,0%) e um composto pela ração comercial (tratamento controle). Ao todo foram utilizados 300 peixes com peso inicial aproximado de 9,10 ± 1,48 g, sendo a unidade experimental representada por 15 peixes em um aquário de 100 litros. Foi constatado que o farelo de milho pode ser substituído pela farinha de batata-doce até o nível mais alto avaliado, que foi de 10% de substituição na ração experimental para tilápia, pois superou a ração comercial, apresentando menor custo e sem afetar o desempenho dos animais.

The objective was to evaluate the performance and economic viability of partial replacement of corn bran by sweet potato flour, in order to determine whether or not its inclusion in tilapia diets is feasible. The experiment lasted 30 days between May and June 2021 in a completely randomized experimental design with 4 treatments and 5 replications. Among the 4 proposed treatments, 3 consisted of different levels of replacement of corn bran by sweet potato flour in the experimental diets (0.0%; 5.0% and 10.0%) and one consisted of the commercial diet (control treatment). A total of 300 fish with an approximate initial weight of 9.10 ± 1.48 g were used, with the experimental unit represented by 15 fish in a 100-liter aquarium. It was found that corn bran can be replaced by sweet potato flour up to the highest level evaluated, which was 10% replacement in the experimental feed for tilapia, as it surpassed the commercial feed, with lower cost and without affecting performance. of the animals.

Low-cost and highly efficient production of bacterial cellulose from sweet potato residues: Optimization, characterization, and application.

Bacterial cellulose (BC) is an emerging biological material with unique properties and structure, which has attracted more and more attention. In this study, Gluconacetobacter xylinus was used to convert sweet potato residues (SPR) hydrolysate to BC. SPR was directly used without pretreatment, and almost no inhibitors were generated, which was beneficial to subsequent glucan conversion and SPR-BC synthesis. SPR-BC production was 11.35 g/L under the optimized condition. The comprehensive structural characterization and mechanical analysis demonstrated that the crystallinity, maximum thermal degradation temperature, and tensile strength of SPR-BC were 87.39%, 263 °C, and 6.87 MPa, respectively, which were superior to those of BC produced with the synthetic medium. SPR-BC was added to rice straw pulp to enhance the bonding force between fibers and the indices of tensile, burst, and tear of rice straw paper. The indices were increased by 83.18%, 301.27%, and 169.58%, respectively. This research not only expanded the carbon source of BC synthesis, reduced BC production cost, but also improved the quality of rice straw paper.

The assessment of yield and quality traits of sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas L.) genotypes in middle Black Sea region, Turkey.

Sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas L.) cultivation in Turkey is concentrated in one province situated in Mediterranean region only, which would not fulfill the domestic needs of the country soon. Therefore, cultivation of the crop in other provinces/climatic regions should be initiated to fulfill the domestic needs. The cultivation in other provinces requires thorough assessment of yield and quality traits of target crop. Therefore, yield and quality characteristics of four sweet potato genotypes (i.e., 'Hatay Kirmizisi', 'Hatay Yerlisi', 'Havuc' and 'Kalem') were assessed in the current study in Kazova and Niksar counties of Tokat province of the country having middle Black Sea climate in field experiments during 2018 and 2019. The cuttings of the genotypes were planted in Niksar during the second fortnight of April and first week of May in Kazova. The planting density was kept 90 × 45 cm. Data relating to number of storage roots, storage root weight, storage root yield per hill and storage root yield per hectare were recorded. Furthermore, quality traits, including dry matter ratio (%), protein ratio (%) and antioxidant ratio (%) of storage roots were also determined. The highest total storage root yield was recorded for 'Havuc' genotype during both years and locations, followed by 'Hatay Yerlisi' and 'Hatay Kirmizisi' genotypes. Overall, storage root yield (60.06 and 62.40 tons ha-1 during first and second year) recorded for the experiment at Niksar was higher than the storage root yield recorded for Kazova experiment (53.50 and 52.84 tons ha-1 during first and second year, respectively). The highest dry matter was produced by 'Kalem' and 'Hatay Yerlisi' genotypes during both years and at both locations, followed by 'Hatay Kirmizisi' and 'Havuc' genotypes. The storage roots of the tested genotypes accumulated higher dry matter at Kazova during both years. The highest protein content was obtained from the 'Kalem' genotype, and the protein contents of the 'Hatay Yerlisi' and 'Hatay Kirmizisi' genotypes were close to the 'Kalem' genotype. The results indicated that tested genotypes can successfully be cultivated in middle Black Sea climate. Therefore, production of sweet potato can be initiated in the future to meet the domestic needs for sweet potato in the country.

Assessment of genetic diversity and variety identification based on developed retrotransposon-based insertion polymorphism (RBIP) markers in sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas (L.) Lam.).

Sweet potato, a dicotyledonous and perennial plant, is the third tuber/root crop species behind potato and cassava in terms of production. Long terminal repeat (LTR) retrotransposons are highly abundant in sweet potato, contributing to genetic diversity. Retrotransposon-based insertion polymorphism (RBIP) is a high-throughput marker system to study the genetic diversity of plant species. To date, there have been no transposon marker-based genetic diversity analyses of sweet potato. Here, we reported a structure-based analysis of the sweet potato genome, a total of 21555 LTR retrotransposons, which belonged to the main LTR-retrotransposon subfamilies Ty3-gypsy and Ty1-copia were identified. After searching and selecting using Hidden Markov Models (HMMs), 1616 LTR retrotransposon sequences containing at least two models were screened. A total of 48 RBIP primers were synthesized based on the high copy numbers of conserved LTR sequences. Fifty-six amplicons with an average polymorphism of 91.07% were generated in 105 sweet potato germplasm resources based on RBIP markers. A Unweighted Pair Group Method with Arithmatic Mean (UPGMA) dendrogram, a model-based genetic structure and principal component analysis divided the sweet potato germplasms into 3 groups containing 8, 53, and 44 germplasms. All the three analyses produced significant groupwise consensus. However, almost all the germplasms contained only one primary locus. The analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA) among the groups indicated higher intergroup genetic variation (53%) than intrapopulation genetic variation. In addition, long-term self-retention may cause some germplasm resources to exhibit variable segregation. These results suggest that these sweet potato germplasms are not well evolutionarily diversified, although geographic speciation could have occurred at a limited level. This study highlights the utility of RBIP markers for determining the intraspecies variability of sweet potato and have the potential to be used as core primer pairs for variety identification, genetic diversity assessment and linkage map construction. The results could provide a good theoretical reference and guidance for germplasm research and breeding.

Development of a fast and user-friendly cryopreservation protocol for sweet potato genetic resources.

Sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas) is one of the ten most important staple crops and provides a livelihood for many people around the globe. To adapt to ever-changing circumstances farmers and breeders need to have access to a broad diversity of germplasm. This study focuses on the development of a cryopreservation protocol that allows the long term storage of different sweet potato cultivars. For this, a droplet vitrification protocol was optimized, comparing several parameters; preculture method (0.3 M sucrose vs no preculture); meristem position (axillary vs apical); plant age (3 to 9 weeks); regeneration medium (MS + 2.22 µM BA, Hirai and MS); and length of loading solution treatment (20 to 360 min). Two months after cryopreservation, the regeneration rates of the meristems were compared, which resulted in significant differences for the preculture method, meristem position and loading solution. With these new insights an optimized droplet vitrification protocol was developed with the following parameters: use of 3-9 week old axillary meristems, no preculture phase, 20 min LS treatment, 30 min PVS2 treatment, exposure to liquid nitrogen by droplet vitrification, warming treatment in RS for 15 min, 1 day 0.3 M sucrose recuperation culture, 1 month MS + 2.22 µM BA followed by 1 month of MS cultures. This protocol was subsequently tested on 10 representative accessions resulting in a post cryopreservation regeneration rate of more than 40% for 70% of the tested cultivars, showing that this protocol could be implemented for a large portion of existing sweet potato collections.

Differences in absorption of cadmium and lead among fourteen sweet potato cultivars and health risk assessment.

Planting sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas (L.) Lam.) instead of rice in the area contaminated with heavy metals is one of the measures to ensure people's health and agricultural economy. Therefore, it is important to screen the low accumulation cultivars of sweet potato and to find out the concentration rule of cadmium (Cd) and lead (Pb) in edible parts along with the associated health risks to humans. A field experiment was performed with fourteen of three main types (starch, purple, and edible-type) of sweet potato cultivars grown on farmland polluted with Cd and Pb in eastern Hunan Province, China. The Cd and Pb concentrations in the sweet potato tissues as well as the yield were measured. The yield of the shoot and tuberous root of the fourteen sweet potato cultivars ranged from 14.59 to 68.57 and 26.35-50.76 t ha-1 with mean values of 33.09 and 33.46 t ha-1, respectively. Compared with purple and edible-type cultivars, the starch-type cultivar had lower Cd and Pb concentrations in the flesh, but higher in the shoot. The Cd and Pb concentrations in the flesh of cultivars Shangshu 19, Sushu 24, Yushu 98, and Xiangshu 98 were lower than MCL provided in Chinese National Food Safety Standards GB2762-2017. Based on the hazard index (HI), the consumption of sweet potato flesh is lower health risk, while shoots pose a greater health risk to local people and Cd is the main cause of the risk. As a result, sweet potato cultivars Shangshu 19, Sushu 24, Yushu 98 and Xiangshu 98 can be plant in serve Cd and Pb contaminated soils with the advantages of easy cultivation, high yield and economic benefits without stopping agricultural production.

Comparative Assessment of Phenolic Profiles, Cellular Antioxidant and Antiproliferative Activities in Ten Varieties of Sweet Potato (Ipomoea Batatas) Storage Roots.

Sweet potato is the sixth most important crop widely cultivated around the world with abundant varieties. Different varieties gain different phenolic profiles which has drawn researchers' attention for its unique health benefits. Our study evaluated the phenolic profiles, total and cellular antioxidant activities, antiproliferative activities, and cytotoxicity in 10 cultivated varieties of sweet potato in different colours. Among fourteen metabolites detected in our study, hyperoside, ferulic acid and caffeic acid were considered as prominent in SPSRs. According to the principle component analysis, phytochemical composition of HX22, YS15 and YS7 was quite similar. The results also evidenced that purple-fleshed varieties, such as YS43, YZ7 and YY153, have higher total phenolics content and corresponding stronger total antioxidant capacities as well as cellular antiproliferative activities against human liver cancer HepG2 cells than other varieties. The extremely significant correlation between phenolics and total antioxidant activity was also revealed by Pearson correlation analysis (p < 0.05). However, no significant relevance was found between intracellular antioxidant activity and total phenolic content or flesh colour of sweet potatoes.

Agro-economic profitability of sweet potato cultivars as a function of the harvest age and times of cultivation in the semi-arid / Rentabilidade de cultivares de batata-doce em função da idade de colheita e épocas de cultivo no semiárido

The objective of this work was to evaluate the profitability of sweet potato cultivars, harvested at different ages and cultivated in different periods (rainy and dry) in the municipality of Mossoró, semi-arid region of Rio Grande do Norte. The experimental design was a randomized complete block design with four replications and treatments arranged in split plots scheme. The plots were composed of three sweet potato cultivars (ESAM 1, Paraná and Mother of Family) and the subplots for five harvest ages (90 , 105, 120, 135 and 150 days after transplanting - DAT). Productivity of commercial roots and production costs was evaluated, as well as the economic indicators: gross income, net income, rate of return and profit margin. Independently of the growing periods, the productivity of commercial roots increased with the later harvest of the crop and differentiated the cultivars. Production costs averaged R$ 6,087.97 ha-1 in the rainy season and R$ 6,181.42 ha-1 in the dry period. Labor expenditures were the most impacting of total expenditures. The cultivars ESAM 1 and Paraná presented higher productivities of commercial roots and profitability when cultivated in the rainy season, while Paraná cultivar was superior to the other cultivars in the crop in the dry season. In both growing periods, the harvest age of 150 DAT promoted higher productivities of commercial roots and profitability to sweet potato production.

Este trabalho teve como objetivo avaliar a rentabilidade de cultivares de batata-doce, colhidas em diferentes idades e cultivadas em períodos distintos (chuvoso e seco) no município de Mossoró, semiárido do Rio Grande do Norte. O delineamento experimental foi em blocos ao acaso, com quatro repetições e tratamentos arranjados em parcelas subdivididas, sendo as parcelas formadas por três cultivares de batata-doce (ESAM 1, Paraná e Mãe de Família) e as subparcelas por cinco idades de colheita (90, 105, 120, 135 e 150 dias após o transplantio ­ DAT). Avaliaram-se produtividade de raízes comerciais e custos de produção, assim como os indicadores econômicos: renda bruta, renda líquida, taxa de retorno e índice de lucratividade. Independentemente dos períodos de cultivo, a produtividade de raízes comerciais aumentou com a colheita mais tardia da cultura e diferenciou as cultivares. Os custos de produção foram em média da ordem de R$ 6.087,97 ha-1 no período chuvoso e R$ 6.181,42 ha-1 no período seco. As despesas com mão de obra foram as mais impactantes nas despesas totais. As cultivares ESAM 1 e Paraná apresentaram maiores produtividades de raízes comerciais e lucratividades quando cultivadas no período chuvoso, enquanto a Paraná foi superior as demais cultivares no cultivo na época seca. Em ambas as épocas de cultivo, a idade de colheita de 150 DAT promoveu maiores produtividades de raízes comerciais e rentabilidade à produção de batata-doce.

What is the cost of integration? Evidence from an integrated health and agriculture project to improve nutrition outcomes in Western Kenya.

Integrated nutrition and agricultural interventions have the potential to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of investments in food security and nutrition. This article aimed to estimate the costs of an integrated agriculture and health intervention (Mama SASHA) focused on the promotion of orange-fleshed sweet potato (OFSP) production and consumption in Western Kenya. Programme activities included nutrition education and distribution of vouchers for OFSP vines during antenatal care and postnatal care (PNC) visits. We used expenditures and activity-based costing to estimate the financial costs during programme implementation (2011-13). Cost data were collected from monthly expense reports and interviews with staff members from all implementing organizations. Financial costs totalled US$507 809 for the project period. Recruiting and retaining women over the duration of their pregnancy and postpartum period required significant resources. Mama SASHA reached 3281 pregnant women at a cost of US$155 per beneficiary. Including both pregnant women and infants who attended PNC services with their mothers, the cost was US$110 per beneficiary. Joint planning, co-ordination and training across sectors drove 27% of programme costs. This study found that the average cost per beneficiary to implement an integrated agriculture, health and nutrition programme was substantial. Planning and implementing less intensive integrated interventions may be possible, and economies of scale may reduce overall costs. Empirical estimates of costs by components are critical for future planning and scaling up of integrated programmes.

Dissipation, residues, and risk assessment of imidacloprid in Zizania latifolia and purple sweet potato under field conditions using LC-MS/MS.

A shortened version of Quick, Easy, Cheap, Effective, Rugged, and Safe method (QuEChERS) for determining the dissipation and residue of imidacloprid present in Zizania latifolia and purple sweet potato was established by using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). The average recoveries of imidacloprid in the two crops ranged from 82.12 to 113.79%, with relative standard deviation (RSD) of <7.32%. The dissipation dynamics of imidacloprid in Z. latifolia plants and purple sweet potato plants followed first-order kinetics, with half-lives of 3.2-5.5 days in each of sampling locations. The terminal imidacloprid residues in Z. latifolia and purple sweet potato at each of location were <0.005-0.120 mg kg-1. According to the risk assessment results, both the acute dietary risk quotient and chronic dietary risk quotient values were <1, indicating that imidacloprid is unlikely to pose health risks to humans with normal recommended use. The present study may serve as a valuable reference for the safe and reasonable use of imidacloprid in Z. latifolia and purple sweet potato fields.

Sweet potato vines in diets for growing rabbits on performance, carcass characteristics and meat quality.

The use of residues as substitutes for conventional ingredients in animal feed is a promising alternative able to reduce both costs and environmental pollution. This study aimed to evaluate the viability of using sweet potato vines (SPV) as a replacement for alfalfa hay in diets for growing rabbits. The performance, carcass characteristics, meat composition and metabolic parameters of the liver were evaluated in 30 New Zealand rabbits weaned at 35 days old and an average weight of 900 g. The animals were allotted into three dietary groups: 0SPV, control diet without SPV; 50SPV, diet with 50% replacement of alfalfa hay by SPV; 100SPV, diet with 100% replacement of alfalfa hay by SPV. The animals were slaughtered at 77 days of age. The liver was collected for analysis of glucose and hepatic glycogen and meat samples were collected for analysis of the chemical composition. The data obtained were statistically compared by analysis of variance followed by the Tukey test (0.05). None of the analyzed variables presented differences. It can be concluded, therefore, that SPV may be used as a substitute for alfalfa hay up to 100% in diets for rabbits without impairing the performance and meat composition.

Incorporating orange-fleshed sweet potato into the food system as a strategy for improved nutrition: The context of South Africa.

Orange-fleshed sweet potato (OFSP) is considered the single most successful example of biofortification of a staple crop, and presents a feasible option to address vitamin A deficiency. Though initially promoted as part of a crop-based approach focusing on production and consumption at household level, it evolved into small-scale commercial production, predominantly in Sub-Saharan Africa. This paper reviews OFSP initiatives in relation to the South African food environment and food supply systems, also identifying opportunities for scaling out OFSP in a situation where sweet potato is not eaten as a staple. Current per capita consumption of sweet potato is low; the focus is thus on increasing consumption of OFSP, rather than replacing cream-fleshed varieties. For the major OFSP variety, Bophelo, 66g consumption can be sufficient to meet the recommended daily allowance for 1-3year old children (300µRE vitamin A). Despite a national Vitamin A supplementation programme and fortified staple foods in South Africa, 43.6% of children under 5years of age were reported to be vitamin A deficient in 2012, indicating a stronger need to promote the consumption of Vitamin A-rich foods, such as OFSP. To increase availability of and access to OFSP, all aspects of the food supply system need to be considered, including agricultural production, trade, food transformation and food retail and provisioning. Currently, small-scale commercial OFSP producers in South Africa prefer to deliver their produce to local informal markets. To enter the formal market, small-scale producers often have difficulties to meet the high standards of the retailers' centralised procurement system in terms of food quality, quantity and safety. Large retailers may have the power to increase the demand of OFSP, not just by improving availability but also by developing marketing strategies to raise awareness of the health benefits of OFSP. However, currently the largest scope for scaling out is through a number of public sector programmes such as the National School Nutrition Programme, Community Nutrition and Development Centres, Small-holder Farmer programmes and Agriparks. Though the major approach is focused on unprocessed, boiled OFSP, there are unexploited opportunities for processing of OFSP. However, the nutritional quality of products should be a main consideration within the context of the co-existence of undernutrition, overnutrition and micronutrient deficiencies in the country.

Life cycle energy efficiency and environmental impact assessment of bioethanol production from sweet potato based on different production modes.

The bioethanol is playing an increasingly important role in renewable energy in China. Based on the theory of circular economy, integration of different resources by polygeneration is one of the solutions to improve energy efficiency and to reduce environmental impact. In this study, three modes of bioethanol production were selected to evaluate the life cycle energy efficiency and environmental impact of sweet potato-based bioethanol. The results showed that, the net energy ratio was greater than 1 and the value of net energy gain was positive in the three production modes, in which the maximum value appeared in the circular economy mode (CEM). The environment emission mainly occurred to bioethanol conversion unit in the conventional production mode (CPM) and the cogeneration mode (CGM), and eutrophication potential (EP) and global warming potential (GWP) were the most significant environmental impact category. While compared with CPM and CGM, the environmental impact of CEM significantly declined due to increasing recycling, and plant cultivation unit mainly contributed to EP and GWP. And the comprehensive evaluation score of environmental impact decreased by 73.46% and 23.36%. This study showed that CEM was effective in improving energy efficiency, especially in reducing the environmental impact, and it provides a new method for bioethanol production.

Genome-wide assessment of population structure and genetic diversity and development of a core germplasm set for sweet potato based on specific length amplified fragment (SLAF) sequencing.

Sweet potato, Ipomoea batatas (L.) Lam., is an important food crop that is cultivated worldwide. However, no genome-wide assessment of the genetic diversity of sweet potato has been reported to date. In the present study, the population structure and genetic diversity of 197 sweet potato accessions most of which were from China were assessed using 62,363 SNPs. A model-based structure analysis divided the accessions into three groups: group 1, group 2 and group 3. The genetic relationships among the accessions were evaluated using a phylogenetic tree, which clustered all the accessions into three major groups. A principal component analysis (PCA) showed that the accessions were distributed according to their population structure. The mean genetic distance among accessions ranged from 0.290 for group 1 to 0.311 for group 3, and the mean polymorphic information content (PIC) ranged from 0.232 for group 1 to 0.251 for group 3. The mean minor allele frequency (MAF) ranged from 0.207 for group 1 to 0.222 for group 3. Analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA) showed that the maximum diversity was within accessions (89.569%). Using CoreHunter software, a core set of 39 accessions was obtained, which accounted for approximately 19.8% of the total collection. The core germplasm set of sweet potato developed will be a valuable resource for future sweet potato improvement strategies.

Essential Oil from Sweet Potato Vines, a Potential New Natural Preservative, and an Antioxidant on Sweet Potato Tubers: Assessment of the Activity and the Constitution.

Pathogenic fungi and oxidation are the major factors that cause the deterioration of sweet potatoes and also cause the loss of quality that makes consumption unsafe. In the present study, the in vitro results demonstrate that the essential oil from sweet potato vines exhibits significantly enhanced activity compared to that of the control. Furthermore, the essential oil can actively inhibit the growth of some common microorganisms inducing pathogenic bacteria and fungi (inhibition rates above 50% at low concentrations). A total of 31 constituents were identified using GC-MS and confirmed that linalool and p-hydroxybenzoic acid are the major active ingredients. The experiment involving actual tubers showed that the essential oil could retains its quality and effectiveness again the fungus disease. This suggests that it could be used in the food industry to increase the shelf life of stored produce (tubers) to ensure food safety without the use of additives or preservatives.

Planning an integrated agriculture and health program and designing its evaluation: Experience from Western Kenya.

Multi-sectoral programs that involve stakeholders in agriculture, nutrition and health care are essential for responding to nutrition problems such as vitamin A deficiency among pregnant and lactating women and their infants in many poor areas of lower income countries. Yet planning such multi-sectoral programs and designing appropriate evaluations, to respond to different disciplinary cultures of evidence, remain a challenge. We describe the context, program development process, and evaluation design of the Mama SASHA project (Sweetpotato Action for Security and Health in Africa) which promoted production and consumption of a bio-fortified, orange-fleshed sweetpotato (OFSP). In planning the program we drew upon information from needs assessments, stakeholder consultations, and a first round of the implementation evaluation of a pilot project. The multi-disciplinary team worked with partner organizations to develop a program theory of change and an impact pathway which identified aspects of the program that would be monitored and established evaluation methods. Responding to the growing demand for greater rigour in impact evaluations, we carried out quasi-experimental allocation by health facility catchment area, repeat village surveys for assessment of change in intervention and control areas, and longitudinal tracking of individual mother-child pairs. Mid-course corrections in program implementation were informed by program monitoring, regular feedback from implementers and partners' meetings. To assess economic efficiency and provide evidence for scaling we collected data on resources used and project expenses. Managing the multi-sectoral program and the mixed methods evaluation involved bargaining and trade-offs that were deemed essential to respond to the array of stakeholders, program funders and disciplines involved.

Effect of including sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas Lam) meal in finishing pig diets on growth performance, carcass traits and pork quality.

The partial replacement of a commercial concentrate at 10-20% and 15-30% (the first percentage of each dietary treatment corresponded to weeks 1-3 and the second to weeks 4-7 of the experiment, respectively) by sweet potato meal (SPM; 70% foliage: 30% roots) was evaluated for growth performance, carcass yield, instrumental and sensory pork quality using 36 commercial crossbred pigs (56.8 ± 1.3 kg initial body weight). Three dietary treatments were compared in a randomized complete block design. Most growth, carcass traits and pork quality variables were not affected by the SPM inclusion. Growth performance averaged 868 g/day and feed efficiency 0.24 kg/kg. However, feed intake increased 2.2% (P = 0.04) in pigs fed the 10-20% SPM diets, in a similar order of magnitude as the decrease in dietary energy. Despite an increase in gastrointestinal tract as a percent of hot carcass weight (+14.7%) (P = 0.03) with SPM inclusion, carcass yield averaged 69.4%. Conversely, decreases in loin yield (-4.2%) (P = 0.05), backfat thickness (-6.0%) (P < 0.01) and pork tenderness (-13%) (P = 0.02) were observed with 15-30% SPM inclusion. Results suggest that up to 20% SPM inclusion is a viable feed strategy for finishing pigs, easily replicable in small farm settings. © 2016 Japanese Society of Animal Science.