Comparative evaluation of physiological post-harvest root deterioration, total carotenoids, starch content and dry matter of selected cassava cultivars

Cassava root storage is limited by Post harvest Physiological deterioration (PPD), which renders cassava root unpalatable and unmarketable. The research work was aimed at analyzing delayed PPD, total carotenoids (TC), starch content (SC) and dry matter (DM) of some selected cassava cultivars and correlating the variables to ascertain their relationships. We planted twenty cassava cultivars at the western farm of the National Root Crop Research Institute (NRCRI), Umudike which were replicated twice and the different cultivars served as the source of variation. The design of the experiment was Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD). The cassava cultivars were harvested after the twelfth month of planting and root and shoot biomass taken. The roots obtained were taken to the laboratory to evaluate for PPD, TC, SC and DM. The results obtained were analysed using GENSTAT to obtain the ANOVA, Correlation Coefficient and the mean separated using LSD. The correlation result showed that PPD was inversely correlated to TC, although the association was weak. SC and DM were however, directly correlated to PPD. TC was inversely correlated to SC and DM, although their correlation was weak. SC and DM were directly and strongly correlated