Characterization, Evaluation and Utilization of Different Mmsu Sweet Potato Accessions in the Ilocos

Abstract

Evaluation of different MMSU sweet potato accessions was conducted under Ilocos conditions during the wet and dry seasons, hand in hand with the utilization of products at the Mariano Marcos State University from 2015-2018. The ten (10) sweet potato accessions had good agronomic characteristics, with regards to vine length, vine weight and number of branches. Highest yields were obtained from MMSU sweet potato accessions 1, 6, 3, 10, 7, 4 and 2 during the dry season (highest yield of 35.33tha-1in 2018); while accession 8 was able to produce the highest yield during the wet season (highest yield of 22.00tha-1in 2016). Highest total dry matter content of accessions 4, 6 and 5 was obtained, which indicates that these are good for future product development procedures. Boiled sweet potato enlarged roots of accessions 1, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9, and 10 are highly acceptable, especially with accessions 1 and 9 which are yellow in appearance, moderately sweet, with uniform, tender and well-cooked consistency and texture; sweet potato tops of accessions 2, 3, and 6 were extremely acceptable; and chips of all the sweet potato accessions were slightly acceptable. Findings revealed a wide array of choices of sweet potato farmers, and further increase in production with the use of high yielding accessions, during the dry and wet seasons.