Abstract:

Breeding new high-quality fresh-eating sweet potato varieties is a crucial objective in sweet potato breeding research. Currently, purple sweet potato lacks diversity in varieties, particularly high-quality fresh-eating cultivars. This study employed independently innovated rapid breeding and quality-related identification techniques. Using core germplasm 264 as the maternal parent, we successfully developed a new purple sweet potato variety, Zijingxiang, characterized by high yield and superior quality for fresh eating. In a two-year variety comparison trial in Zhejiang Province, average fresh, dried, and starch yields per 667 m² of Zijingxiang showed increases of 19.70%, 4.30%, and 0.45% over the control variety Zheshu 13. In the variety comparison trial for the middle and lower reaches of Yangtze River, Zijingxiang demonstrated higher fresh, dried, and starch yields compared with Mianzishu 9. Its taste score was comparable to Zheshu 13 and superior to Mianzishu 9. The soluble sugar and reducing sugar content in fresh sweet potato of Zijingxiang were equivalent to Zheshu 33. It exhibits resistance to fusarium wilt, moderate resistance to root rot, and susceptibility to black rot and stem nematode disease.

Key words: purple sweet potato, variety breeding, yield, high quality, cultivation techniques