Sweet potato, which came to Russia from Central and South America, is widely cultivated only in warm and humid regions of the country. Scientists of the Timiryazev Academy have developed a method for obtaining cold-resistant planting material for this crop. The new method will significantly expand the area of its cultivation.
Interest in this crop is primarily due to the fact that tubers are a source of vitamins, antioxidants, inulin, and also a good source of beta-carotene. Nutritionists consider it a more useful product than potatoes - it has less calories, has a low glycemic index, which means that it can be safely used in the diet of diabetics.
In Russia, yam, or as it is also called, sweet potatoes are cultivated only in southern regions with a fairly hot climate. Scientists of the Timiryazev Academy undertook to rectify the situation and set themselves the task of making sweet potato available for cultivation in regions with low positive temperatures, and expanding the area of cultivation of the crop.
The group of authors under the guidance of Rima Norikovna Kirakosyan, Associate Professor of the Department of Biotechnology of the RGAU-MSHA, included Professor of the Department Elena Anatolyevna Kalashnikova, Acting head of the department Mikhail Yurievich Cherednichenko, associate professors Oksana Borisovna Polivanova and Natalya Petrovna Karsunkina, postgraduate student Khalid Abubakarov. Scientific work was carried out with the participation of the leading researcher of the All-Russian Research Institute of Phytopathology Sulukhan Kudaiberdievna Temirbekova.
Scientists themselves note that science knows ways to obtain cold-resistant planting material, but they are based on the use of chemicals, are often too complex and do not guarantee the achievement of the desired result. The method offered by the Timiryazevites is based on the methods of cell biotechnology and can be involved in classical breeding.
The appearance of cold-resistant callus cells of sweet potato occurs due to the presence of the preparation Mival in the composition of the nutrient medium, a bioorganic regulator of plant growth and development based on silicon. Silicon in the silatrane compound acts as an activator of physiological processes in the cell, facilitates the release of toxins and accelerates metabolic processes. In the cell, silicon promotes the formation of compounds that bind free water and turn it into a kind of gel, and thereby increase the water-holding capacity of the cell and the plant as a whole. Thus, silicon prevents the formation of ice crystals during frost.
“The use of this method will increase the yield of genetically stable sweet potato material, resistant to low temperatures, which will make it possible to expand the cultivation area of this valuable vegetable crop in our country,” said the rector of the RGAU-MSHA named after K.A. Timiryazev, Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Professor Vladimir Ivanovich Trukhachev.