April 2016 Vol. 4 No.4

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Rath D
Mohandas C

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Original Research Article

Antibacterial activity of leaf and tuber extract of orange, purple flesh antioxidants rich sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas (L.))

Durgamadhab Rath¹, James George², Archana Mukherjee^1*, S. K. Naskar² and C. Mohandas²

¹Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR)-Central Tuber Crops Research Institute (CTCRI), Regional Centre, Bhubaneswar-751019, Odisha, India
²ICAR-CTCRI, Thiruvananthapuram-695017, Kerala, India

*Corresponding Author’s Email: archanapsm2@rediffmail.com

Accepted March 31, 2016

Abstract

Sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas (L.), the fifth most important food cum vegetable crop is rich in starch, minerals and vitamins supplements. This tuberous vegetable provides food to small and marginal farmers in sweet potato growing countries. Recently β-carotene rich orange flesh sweet potato and anthocyanin rich purple flesh sweet potato are gaining special attention as cheap source of food cum antioxidants. Central Tuber Crops Research Institute (CTCRI) at Bhubaneswar harbours a sizable collection of sweet potato germplasm. Progressive screening and evaluation resulted in identifying high starch (21%) white flesh, β-carotene rich (14 mg 100g^-1) orange flesh and anthocyanin rich (90 mg 100 g^-1) purple flesh sweet potato. Post harvest evaluation on storability of these genotypes was found to be longer by 2-3 months than popular and local cultivars. Disease and pest incidence was also found to be minimum (5-10%) in these varieties. In the present study, the high valued sweet potato tested for their yield performance across Odisha. Further, freshly harvested tubers and leaf extracts of purple, orange and white flesh sweet potato were studied for antimicrobial activity against Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus. Of the different leaves and tubers extract used for disc diffusion methods significant zone of inhibition was recorded with the extracts of purple and orange flesh tubers. Such inhibition was observed against both the pathogenic microbes. These results are encouraging to work further on edible therapeutics, food and other valuable traits of purple and orange flesh sweet potato.

Key words: Sweet potato, antibacterial activity, Escherichia Coli, Staphylococcus aureus