PRODUCTION, STORAGE AND QUALITY CHARACTERISTICS OF SWEET POTATO VARIETIES

Abstract

Sweet potato (Ipomeabatatas) is an important subsistence crop in Eastern Africa and is fast becoming an important supplementary staple food in Kenya. It is harvested fresh but the shelf life is short. Little is known in regard to storability of local varieties grown by farmers and its effect on culinary characteristics and nutritional value. The main objective of the study was to evaluate the production, processing, utilization and effect of various storage methods on preservation of nutritional quality (βeta -carotene) of sweet potatoes in Kabras and Kabondo wards. The study adopted a cross sectional survey and experimental research designs using 211 sweet potato farmers who were a stratified random sample. A questionnaire was used to collect data on production, processing and utilization of the sweet potato. The storage experiment involved the use of pit and clamp storage methods. The nutritional quality of the stored sweet potato, particularly the effect of storage on Trans –βeta carotene content cis-isomers, was determined by UV-Spectrophotometer. Data was analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS V.20). T-test and ANOVA for the various variables were determined. The study results showed that 73.3% of the respondents in Kabondo and 86.7% in Kabras; 91.7% were women 64.2% and 39.7 of the farmers in the two study areas preferred the yellow local variety of sweet potatoes and grew sweet potatoes twice a year. There was no significant difference in the mean βeta carotene levels in selected sweet potato varieties stored under pit and clamp methods (p≤ 0.05). The clamp storage method was generally better than the pit storage method as it had fairly higher sensory trait means as compared to the pit storage method, using a five unit hedonic scale. There is need for use of improved storage methods as this will boost food and livelihood security at household, community and national level and also to address nutritional problems.