Nutrient profiling and quality maintenance of sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas L.) genotypes during ambient storage

Sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas L.) is considered as staple food in many developing countries. The major nutritional value in sweet potato tubers lies in its carbohydrates (starches and simple sugars), protein and fat. Sweet potato is a cheap calorie producer and is rich in vitamin A and C, and tubers have anti-diabetic, anti-oxidant and anti-proliferative properties due to the presence of valuable nutritional and mineral components viz., phosphorus, calcium, magnesium and sodium with low glycemic index. As sweet potatoes face the problem due to weevils, shrinkage and loss of nutrients in storage, the present investigation on shelf-life and nutritional profiling in twelve different sweet potato genotypes were studied in order to determine the varieties for better storage. Among the sweet potato genotypes tried, the BSP1 exhibited superior qualities like higher calcium and phosphorus content (50.47 and 153.20 mg/100g), dry matter (61.7%), high scores for skin and flesh color (4.93 and 5.00), low values for TSS (4.4 °Brix), reducing and non reducing sugars (0.67 and 0.21%), starch (0.60%), physiological loss in weight (13.5%) and weevil incidence (10%). The genotype also maintained all these characters throughout the storage period. The genotypes Sree Bhadra and BSP23 were the next best genotypes to maintain all the above mentioned characters.