Project to develop purple-fleshed potato yields results

A Ugandan scientist has made a headway with a development of a new sweet potato variety that contains significant health characteristics, Daily Monitor can reveal.
The purple-fleshed sweet potato variety also provides many more health benefits that others do not have.

Impressive results
Already tests and field trials have shown positive results after responding well in an environment known to be hostile to root crops.
“So far the prospect is looking good. It is only a matter of time before this variety is released to the farmers for mass production and consumption,” the project lead scientist, Dr Bernard Yada said in an interview recently.

Experts in this field this reporter spoke to said if all goes as expected, the purple-fleshed sweet potato, currently being subjected to rigorous trials, including research on its adaptability and commercial viability, could be released for mass consumption in about two and half years or even sooner than that.
Why this development is important?
“This development is what I call a jump-start to various other technologies in development of purple-fleshed sweet potatoes here in Uganda,” Dr Yada said.
Now we are examining its adaptation under our natural conditions and after that we hope to release it as a variety.”
The experiment also provides an opportunity for scientists and researchers to solve the issue of food insecurity boost household income and make a case for its industrial benefits.
Uganda is also the pioneer in the purple-fleshed sweet potatoes variety in East and Central Africa.
According to Dr Yada, a plant breeder/geneticist at National Crops Resources Research (NaCRRI) Namulonge, the brain behind the purple-fleshed sweet potatoes, this feat is more than just the ingenuity of Ugandan scientists involved in this field.
He said: “This is about providing a remedy for food security and chronic diseases. Research shows this variety can prevent cancer, ulcers and cardiovascular (heart and blood) illnesses, let alone enhancing vision.”
Speaking in an interview in Serere, eastern Uganda where the trials are being conducted, Dr Yada said the variety has a high level of anti-oxidants, which is also crucial in boosting body immunity.

The purple-fleshed sweet potato can also be a source of natural food colourants as opposed to the synthetic ones, and it also has rich juice content.
Processed purple-fleshed sweet potato noodles (chips and fries—crisps) has much longer shelf life compared to many other products made from root crops.
After being exposed to a natural environment notorious for potato weevils for five months, the purple-fleshed sweet potatoes were found to be intact.
Another trial is currently being done in harsh (heavily infested) site in western Uganda before the process to roll it out to farmers kicks off.

Source of the purple-fleshed sweet potato
Seeds for the project were provided by North Carolina State University. The ones that stand the three-year trials will be crossed with local varieties to produce the new purple-fleshed variety.
Unlike other sweet potato technologies, some of which are genetically modified (GM), the know-how involved, according to Dr Yada, is far from the GM technology that many consider controversial.

Paul Musana, a researcher, points out that sweet potato weevil remains one of the biggest threats, with a potential to destroy 100 per cent yield of root crops such as sweet potato.
However with success rate of purple-fleshed sweet potatoes and the tolerance of new Kawanga variety, Musana believes the future is not all gloom and doom yet.
Dr Godfrey Asea, the director, NaCRRI-Namulonge said that support for such technologies and research should be priority of the government so that it is at the same wave length with the national priorities.

Background

tropical Americas and was grown extensively throughout the continent well before the arrival of the Europeans.
It was then introduced to Europe, Africa, and Asia and is now one of the major root crops in the developing world where over 90 per cent of the production is found. In the tropics, sweet potato can be grown as a perennial while in temperate regions it is grown as an annual.
The colour of the periderm (skin) can be yellow, orange, copper, red, and purple; the flesh can be white, yellow, dark orange, red and purple, being the rarest.
There are over 400 varieties of sweet potatoes around the world, with Uganda having at least 22 of such varieties. Of these varieties, seven are orange-fleshed with high level of Vitamin A.

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