Sweet potato is a versatile vegetable which can be used both as human and animal food. The relatively easy and inexpensive cultivation of this vegetable associated with the crop adaptability to several conditions of soil and climate enable the production of sweet potato by family farmers. The objective of this research was to evaluate production of fresh and dry mass of vines for animal nutrition and productivity and storage quality of roots for human food of sweet potato clones. The experimental design was randomized blocks, containing twelve clones and four replications. Sweet potato clones from UFVJM germplasm bank were tested along with the control cultivars Brazlândia Rosada and Brazlândia Roxa, harvested six months after planting date. We evaluated the productivity of fresh and dry matter of vines and yield and quality of roots. The best clone was BD-45 with a high yield of fresh mass, dry matter and total and commercial roots, with values of 19.7; 3.3; 32.9 and 29.5 t ha-1, respectively. Most genotypes presented roots near the ideal format for the market and good resistance to soil insects, with values near to grade 2.0. Significant differences were observed among genotypes for the content of starch, total and reducing sugars. The genotypes showed similar chemical composition, except for the ash content. Clones BD-67 and BD-56 showed higher levels of ash than Cambraia, and similar to other clones.
Ipomoea batatas; genotype; selection; total sugars; starch; bromatological composition
