Origin

Sweetpotato clone ‘CIP BRS Nuti’ (CIP106902.1) was developed in 2006 by controlled crossing between the elite OFSP clone SR01.018 (CIP101048.1) and the advanced OFSP clone PJ05.172 (CIP194583.2). Both parental clones are breeding materials developed by CIP. The female parent, SR01.018, was developed by a cross open pollination and selected in 2001 at San Ramon located in the humid tropics of Peru, a region that enables sweetpotato crosses all year long. This female parent is characterized by good agronomic performance, high root dry matter content (30%), pale orange flesh color (200 mg⋅kg⁻¹ of β-carotene), intermediate sweetness, and good eating acceptance after boiling. The male parent, PJ05.172, is a clone selected from an open pollinated nursery among parents with high β-carotene content. This parent was selected in 2005 under central Peruvian coast conditions as well as the humid tropics of Peru and is characterized by good agronomic performance, low root dry matter content (23%), medium to deep orange flesh color (350 mg⋅kg⁻¹ of β-carotene), intermediate sweetness, and good eating acceptance after boiling.

The crosses conducted by CIP in 2006 focused on the development of an OFSP sweetpotato population. Partially this population was introduced in CIP’s genebank, and after pathogen elimination, it became available for international distribution. Some of these clones were sent to Embrapa in Brazil to select new sweetpotato varieties adapted to Brazilian agro-ecological zones and consumer preferences as part of the AgroSalud program in 2013.

Description

‘CIP BRS Nuti’ has the following characteristics (International Potato Center et al., 1991):

Production

With the exception of the south region of Brazil where the winter season is more pronounced, ‘CIP BRS Nuti’ can be planted during all seasons of the year as long as irrigation is available. Commercial plants usually originate from previous commercial fields or multiplication nurseries and fields, respectively, which are derived from in vitro plants. ‘CIP BRS Nuti’ produces 30% more vines that can be used for rapid re-planting, and dissemination in comparison with ‘Beauregard’ (Rolston et al., 1987).

For cultivar release, ‘CIP BRS Nuti’ was compared with the varieties to replace namely Beauregard (see previously) and Canadense, which is the white-fleshed sweetpotato most planted in Brazil. Evaluations were performed in 12 different sites, two of which were in different crop seasons, from 2018 through 2020. Altitude of locations ranged from 159 to 990 m and planting sites included areas with Cambisol, Ferralsol, Gleysol, Lixisol, Planosol, and Plinthosol soils (Santos et al., 2018). Locations included experimental stations and commercial farmer fields.

The experimental design for all sites was a randomized block design with four replications. Experimental plots consisted of 10 to 26 plants per plot, spaced 0.75 to 1.1 m between rows and 0.25 to 0.30 m between plants, depending on the equipment available on each site. Fields were sprinkler irrigated and soils fertilized with synthetic fertilizers, with the exception of Canoinhas, SC and Uberlandia, MG that did not receive any fertilizer. Storage roots were harvested an average of 157 d after planting. Yield data were adjusted according to plot size and is presented in t⋅ha⁻¹ (Table 1).

Table 1.

Storage root yields of ‘CIP BRS Nuti’, ‘Beauregard’, ‘and Canadense’ in experimental stations and commercial farmer fields in Brazil (t⋅ha⁻¹); SC, Santa Catarina; MG, Minas Gerais; DF, Distrito Federal; RS, Rio Grande do Sul; PI, Piauí; PE, Pernambuco; and SP, São Paulo.

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At most sites, ‘CIP BRS Nuti’ and ‘Beauregard’ exhibited similar commercial root yields, with the exception of three sites where ‘Beauregard’ commercial root yield was larger than ‘CIP BRS Nuti’, and one site where ‘CIP BRS Nuti’ exhibited larger root yields compared with ‘Beauregard’. Similar yield pattern was observed for the comparison of ‘CIP BRS Nuti’ with ‘Canadense’ (Table 1). The average commercial storage yield of ‘CIP BRS Nuti’ across all 12 sites was 35 t⋅ha⁻¹.

Disease Reactions

‘CIP BRS Nuti’ was evaluated for nematodes under controlled greenhouse conditions together with ‘Beauregard’ and ‘Canadense’ (Mello et al., in press). In contrast to ‘Beauregard’, the cultivar ‘CIP BRS Nuti’ and ‘Canadense’ were found to be highly resistant to M. incognita, M. javanica, and M. enterolobii. A field trial under commercial conditions naturally infested with the three species of Meloidogyne in which the nematode population directly affects commercial yield, including presence of symptoms confirmed greenhouse nematode evaluations.

Quality Attributes

Brazilian sweetpotato roots are usually commercialized immediately after harvesting without curing or storage. Under these conditions, laboratory analysis of field samples determined that ‘CIP BRS Nuti’ exhibited on average 2% more root dry matter content than Beauregard (25% vs. 23%). Based on eight experiments from the 12 presented in Table 1, the β-carotene content of ‘CIP BRS Nuti’ was 149 mg⋅kg⁻¹, which is ≈28% higher compared with ‘Beauregard’ using a previously reported extraction method (Rodriguez-Amaya et al., 2008). Sugars were extracted according to (Macrae, 1998). Total sugars of ‘Beauregard’ and ‘CIP BRS Nuti’ were nearly similar, both more than 5 g/100 g of roots, evaluated directly after the harvests, without a cure process. However, the composition of these sugars was different among these cultivars. ‘CIP BRS Nuti’ shows predominance of sucrose (3.70 g/100 g) with low fructose (0.64 g/100 g) and glucose (0.82 g/100 g), whereas ‘Beauregard’ has much less sucrose (2.62 g/100 g), more fructose (1.23 g/100 g) and more glucose (1.63 g/100 g). Physical analysis additionally demonstrated that sliced ‘CIP BRS Nuti’ roots produced a lower oxidation rate than ‘Beauregard’, an attribute highly desired for industrial processing. Further quality attributes (i.e., ash, protein, lipid, dietary fiber, and carbohydrate contents as well as calorific value) are presented in Table 2.

Table 2.

Quality root characteristics of ‘Beauregard’, ‘Canadense’, and ‘CIP BRS Nuti’ in Bela Vista do Toldo, SC, Brazil in 2019.

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