Food Science and Technology Library

Roots and tubers make a great contribution to major staple foods and provide good sources of dietary carbohydrates for the nutrition supply and energy recharge of human [1]. These crops include cocoyam (Colocasia spp. and Xanthosoma spp.), potato (Solanum tubero- sum), sweet potato (Ipomea batatas), yams (Dioscorea spp.), and cassava (Manihot esculenta), which are the most cultivated species after cereals and legumes [2]. As for root and tuber crops, they are constituted by 70–80% water, 16–24% starch, and less than 4% proteins and lipids [3]. The root and tuber crops showed a steady increase in production and plant areas. According to FAO statistics, in 2022, the world harvested areas of cassava, potato, sweet potato, and yam were 32.04, 17.78, 7.24, and 10.4 million hectares, respectively, and their world yields were 3304.1, 3747.78, 864.1, and 882.57 hundred million kilograms, respec- tively. Due to the importance of root and tuber crops in food, nutrition, and cash income, they are even listed in the RTB (Root, Tuber, and Banana) breeding program together as a contributing source of food for their quality characteristics and potential benefits [4]. Thus, new high-yielding and disease-resistant varieties will be developed in the future [5,6].