R&D collaboration with industry - : The Japanese sweetpotato story

Sweetpotato (Ipomoea batatas (L.) Lam) is one of the most important upland crops in Japan and attention is currently focused on processing use of this crop. To encourage this type of use, it is necessary to develop utilization systems promoting consumption of sweetpotato and cultivation systems reducing the production cost. Firstly, new technology was developed using chemical components contained in the sweetpotato roots and tops, such as starch, pigments, etc. In relation to starch, a cultivar having low temperature pasting starch was developed. Three kinds of color pigments in the storage roots - anthocyanin, carotenoids and unidentified flavonoids - were revealed to have important physiological functions, such as anti-oxidation, anti-cancer and protection against liver injury. Flour, juice and alcoholic beverages have been developed using colored sweetpotato cultivars.[...]