Variations of Leaf and Storage Roots Morphology in Ipomoea batatas L. (Sweet Potato) Cultivars

摘要

Ipomoea batatas L. is one of the main crops in the world and is planted mainly for its tuber. This vegetative plant is hard to distinguish between their wide cultivars during the harvesting period. We sought a general comparison of cultivars across different varieties of sweet potato leaves. A total of 6 different local varieties of sweet potato leaves were characterised for leaf width, length, thickness, area, shape, arrangement, margin, venation and the colour index (in L~*a~*/b~*). The morphological characteristics of the storage roots were also found to be different for the different cultivars. Hence, the leaf morphology can be used to distinguish the different cultivars of sweet potato plant in Malaysia.