Industrial-Type Sweet Potatoes: A Renewable Energy Source for Georgia

摘要

Screening sweet potato breeding lines and cultivars for high content of fermentables was more easily accomplished when percent dry weight, rather than percent sugar and starch, was used as the measurement criterion. A regression equation was established to estimate the percent fermentables from dry weight determinations. Percent fermentables and biomass yield can then be used to estimate alcohol-production potential. Considerable variations in alcohol-production potential and biomass yield occurred among genotypes. High biomass yield should be combined with high fermentable carbohydrate content to maximize alcohol-production potential. Many of the high starch-containing industrial-type sweet potatoes meet these requirement better than the table types which were developed for human consumption. Industrial-type sweet potatoes may also be better suited than some other crops for biomass farming if alcohol production becomes a part of Georgia agriculture and if sweet potato production costs can be reduced. (ERA citation 09:024668)