The scurf disease of the sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas) was first described by Halsted, who published a brief account of it in 1890. To the fungus he gave the name Monilochaetes infuscans, a new genus and species, of which, unfortunately, he gave no technical description. For many years following his pioneer work little or no attention was given to sweet-potato diseases. This very common and in...

Cowpea (Vigna unguiculata) is popularly grain legume referred to as ‘beans’ in West Africa. It is nutritious and provides protein, vitamins, and minerals. Cowpea grain contains about 25% protein, making it extremely valuable where many people can’t afford proteins from animal sources such as meat and fish [1,2]. Cowpea flour has been used as a nutritious ingredient in fried and baked products, ...

Three new pentasaccharide resin glycosides, batatosides III-V (1-3), were isolated from the roots of Sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas). Saponification of the crude resin glycoside mixture yielded substituents and simonic acid B. The structures of the isolated compounds (1-3) were established through spectroscopic analyses, including high field NMR spectroscopy and HR-ESI-MS, and chemical correlati...

Proteins isolated from sweet potatoes (Ipomoea batatas) have been shown to possess antidiabetic, antioxidant, and antiproliferative properties. The objective of this study was to chemically optimize a process for extracting proteins from sweet potato peel. The extraction procedure involved mixing peel with saline solvent to dissolve proteins and then precipitating with CaCl2. Quadratic and segm...

The effects of nitrogen fertilizer on sweet potato, Ipomoea batatas (L.) Poir., resistance to the sweetpotato weevil, Cylas formicarius elegantulus (Summers), was studied. Adult weevil feeding and oviposition preference, larval survival, and pupal weight were used as measures of sweet potato resistance. Sweet potato resin glycosides and caffeic acid concentrations in the periderm tissue of stor...

This study investigated the effect of different traditional cooking methods on glycemic index (GI) and glycemic response of ten Sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas) cultivars commonly eaten in Jamaica. Matured tubers were cooked by roasting, baking, frying, or boiling then immediately consumed by the ten nondiabetic test subjects (5 males and 5 females; mean age of 27 ± 2 years). The GI varied betwee...

The potential of tuber flour of Ipomoea batatas (L.) Lam. cv. Brazlândia Branca (white sweet potato) as wound healing and antiulcerogenic agent was investigated in vivo in animal model. Excision on the back of Wistar rats was performed to induce wounds that were topically treated with Beeler's base containing tuber flour of white sweet potato at 2.5%. Number of cells undergoing metaphase and th...

The objectives of this study were to identify the antioxidants in acid hydrolysates of six of Taiwan’s indigenous purple-leaved vegetables (IPLV), including purple-leaved sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas L. Lamark), purple-leaved gynura line 1 (Gynura bicolor D.C.), purple-leaved gynura line 2 (Gynura bicolor D.C.), purple-leaved perilla line 1 (Perilla frutescents L. Britton), bicolored-leaved pe...

Sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas) is an important subsistence and famine reserve crop grown in developing countries where Sweet potato chlorotic stunt virus (SPCSV; Closteroviridae), a single-stranded RNA (ssRNA) crinivirus, synergizes unrelated viruses in co-infected sweet potato plants. The most severe disease and yield losses are caused by co-infection with SPCSV and a potyvirus, Sweet potato f...

In January 2005, a cyclone hit southern Madagascar, including the Beza Mahafaly Special Reserve, disrupting the flowering/fruiting cycle of Tamarindus indica, leaving Lemur catta without its major food resource during reproductive periods. We studied two adjacent groups of L. catta during the late gestation period, and both groups ventured outside the reserve to feed. The Red group (RG) fed dai...