Sapogenin production and agronomic potential od Discorea spiculiflora

Abstract

Clones and seed plants of the medicinal plant, Dioscorea spiculiflora, were introduced to Puerto Rico for the purpose of testing them as crops and measuring the yields of sapogenins. Although the parents were selected based on their sapogenin percentage, the seedlings showed great variability in all aspects of the total yield. However, large and significant differences were noted between clones, demonstrating that better clones can be selected or the species improved by crossbreeding. Yields after 2 and 3 years were not related to the sapogenin percentage of the original parents. The sapogenins that were separated by chromatography were of two classes: simple types and the keto type, more desirable for drug synthesis. We did not find clones that had only one of the classes. The average yield of sapogenin was lower than that of other cultivated species vated in Puerto Rico, D. composita and D. floribunda. The factors that influenced the use of the species as a crop were mentioned