A New Sweetpotato Cultivar for Table Use, “Yeonhwangmi”

Yeonhwangmi is a new sweetpotato cultivar developed by Mokpo Experiment Station, National Institute of Crop Science (NICS), RDA in 2005, for table use and food processing. This variety was selected from the crossing between Mokpo 25 and Yulmi in 1997, Selection of elite seedling and line was performed from 1998 to 1999. Preliminary and advanced yield trials were carried out from 2001 to 2002. The regional yield trials were conducted at six locations from 2003 to 2005. Yeonhwangmi has cordate leaf, green vine and petiole, long elliptic storage root, dark red skin and dark yellow flesh color of storage root. The average yield of storage root was 25.1 ton/ha in the regional yield trials, which was 22% higher than that of Yulmi variety. Number of storage roots over 50 gram per plant was 3.3, and the average weight of one storage root was 128 gram. This cultivar has shown also resistant to Fusarium wilt and nematode. In addition, steamed Yeonhwangmi has higher polyphenol contents as 5.5 mg/g, dw, which improve the bioactivity in human, and lower degree of enzymatic browning as 0.6, very important property in food processing. The total sugar content was higher, thereby, sweeter than Yulmi. Lastly, Yeonhwangmi’s initial temperature of starch gelatinization was lower, 69.3℃, and the retrogradation process was slower than Yulmi.