Abstract

LEONEL, Magali; FERRARI, Tainara Bortolucci; SARMENTO, Silene Bruder Silveira  and  OLIVEIRA, Marcelo Alvares de. Planting time, developmental stages and characteristics of roots and starch of Pachyrhizus ahipa. Sci. agric. (Piracicaba, Braz.) [online]. 2005, vol.62, n.6, pp. 528-533. ISSN 0103-9016.  http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/S0103-90162005000600003.

Starch characteristics generally alter with plant developmental stage. The object of this study is to evaluate the effects of planting and harvesting dates on root physical-chemical characteristics, starch granule size distribution, and viscographics properties of starches in Pachryrhizus ahipa. Harvesting dates influenced root and starch characteristics for the two planting dates. The best conditions for cultivating Pachyrhizus ahipa for starch extraction are October planting and July harvesting dates. Their flowers must be cut after three months of cultivation.

Keywords : ahipa; starch; microscopy; viscosity.