Evaluation of Vegetative Growth and Total Chlorophyll of Four

Sweet Potato Genotypes in the Highland and Lowland

Darma Bakti

, Rosmayati

1,2

and Nini Rahmawati

1,2

Faculty of Agriculture, Universitas Sumatera Utara, Padang Bulan, Medan 20155, Indonesia

Centre for Roots and Tuber Studies Universitas Sumatera Utara

{darma, rosmayati, nini }@usu.ac.id

Keywords: Sweet potato, vegatative growth, chlorophyll, higland and lowland

Abstract: Sweet potato crop productivity is influenced by several factors such as the growing season, soil type,

irrigation system, plant propagation materials, use of genotypes, plant nutrition and others. The objective of

this study was to evaluation of vegetative growth and total chlorophyll of four sweet potato genotypes in the

highland and lowland. Field experiment was conducted on April – July 2018 was arranged in a randomized

block design with two factors, the first factor is the genotypes of sweet potato (UbiSibolu accession from

SaribuDolok Village Simalungun, UbiSibolu accession from Kasemak Village Simalungun and UbiSibolu

accession from BatangBeruh Village and Beta – 1 variety). The second factor was altitude of planting area

(highland 1440 MSAL and lowland 28 MSAL). The result showed three local sweet potato genotypes from

upland areas in Simalungun Regency and DairiRegency Sumatera Utara have the ability to adapt and grow

well in the lowland and in the highland which are not their origin compared to varieties Beta-2 which is a

national superior variety. Vegetative growth of four sweet potato genotypes is better in the lowland than in

the highland.

1 INTRODUCTION

Sweet potatoes are an important food crop in the

world (Šlosár et al., 2016). Among the tuber groups,

sweet potatoes are one of the potential local food

ingredients to be developed in the future. It is based

on the consideration that sweet potatoes are the

fourth source of carbohydrates after rice, maize, and

cassava; have high productivity potential; have

diversified product diversity potential; has a diverse

nutritional content, and has the potential market

demand both local, regional, and exports are

increasing (Šlosár et al., 2016; Laban et al., 2015;

Ahmad et al., 2011).

Growth and development of plants is influenced

by external and internal factors. External factors

include soil, humidity, air, temperature, light and

water. Internal factors may include genes, hormones,

chlorophyll content as well as morphological and

anatomical structures of plant organs (Widya, 2015).

Environmental factors are an important

consideration in the selection of plants or locations

for more productive crop cultivation. Plant growth

and development are significantly affected by

elevation and altitude. In addition, environmental

factors also affect the ability of plants to adapt

(Krishania et al., 2013; Nayak and Altekar, 2015;

Maria and Rodica, 2015

Sweet potato crop productivity is influenced by

several factors such as the growing season, soil type,

irrigation system, plant propagation materials, use of

genotypes, plant nutrition and others. Identification

of accession groups with excellent production

potential is a population of the sweet potato genetic

development program in the future (Vargas et al.,

2017). Sumatera Utara is one of the centers of sweet

potato production in Indonesia. Research on the

exploration and identification of sweet potatoes in

Sumatera Utara shows various types of sweet

potatoes from various accessions with a variety of

different characters. These local sweet potato

genotypes have the potential to be developed for

assembly of sweet potato varieties that have wide

adaptability (Rosmayati and Bakti, 2018).

Sweet potatoes are plants that have wide

adaptability. Determining the appropriate location is

very important to consider to get maximum tuber

yield. Sweet potatoes can be planted in areas with a

height of 0 - 3000 MASL and maximum tuber

formation at a temperature of 25°C at night, this

Bakti, D., Rosmayati, . and Rahmawati, N.

Evaluation of Vegetative Growth and Total Chlorophyll of Four Sweet Potato Genotypes in the Highland and Lowland.

DOI: 10.5220/0010097200930097

In Proceedings of the International Conference of Science, Technology, Engineering, Environmental and Ramiﬁcation Researches (ICOSTEERR 2018) - Research in Industry 4.0, pages

93-97

ISBN: 978-989-758-449-7

indicates environmental factors such as light and

temperature are very important to consider

(Sulistiani et al., 2018)

The objective of this study was to evaluation of

vegetative growth and total chlorophyll of four

sweet potato genotypes in the highland and lowland

as preliminary data to determine environmental

suitability and adaptability of sweet potato

genotypes.

2 MATERIALS AND METHODS

Field experiment was conducted on April – July

2018 at the experimental farm in Balai Penelitian

Tanaman Sayuran Tongkoh – Berastagi (1440

MASL) and Cengkeh Turi Village Binjai (28

MASL), chlorophyll analysis is carried out in

Tissue Culture Laboratory Faculty of Agriculture

Universitas Sumatera Utara. Materials and tools

used in this study include sweet potato stem cuttings,

fertilizer, aquades, 80% acetone, erlenmeyer, filter

paper, UV-VIS spectrophotometer and label.

A randomized block design with two factors with

three replications was employed. The first factor was

the genotypes of sweet potato (UbiSibolu accession

from SaribuDolok Village Simalungun, UbiSibolu

accession from Kasemak Village Simalungun and

UbiSibolu accession from BatangBeruh Village and

Beta – 1 variety). The second factor was altitude of

planting area (highland 1440 MSAL and lowland 28

MSAL). The research stages include land

preparation, making beds, planting, fertilizing using

urea, TSP and KCl fertilizer, maintenance and

parameter observation. The observation on vine

length, number of branch, number of leaves, fresh

vine weight were collected in the fifth and tenth

weekss after planting, while chlorophyll total were

observed in the tenth weeks after planting.

Data analysis using analysis of variance

(ANOVA). Duncan Multiple Range Test (DMRT)

was used to separate means at 5% level of

probability. Please remember that all the papers

must be in English and without orthographic errors.

3 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Plant morphology is influenced by environmental

conditions and genetic factors. Both factors will

interact during the life cycle of the plant and so that

plant phenotypes appear that are similar to each

other or completely different. If environmental

influences are dominant compared to genetic,

morphological variations may occur from the same

species (Suranto, 2002). The results showed that the

morphological appearance and vegetative growth of

four sweet potato genotypes showed significant

differences in vine length, number of leaves and fesh

vine weight (Table 1 and Table 3).

Table 1.Vine length and branch number of four sweet

potato genotypes on 5 and 10 weeks after planting

Genotype Five weeks after

lanting

Ten weeks after

lanting

Vine

lenght

(

)

Branch

number

(

branch

)

Vine

lenght

(

)

Branch

number

(

branch

)

Ubi Sibolu

Saribu Dolo

125,83 a 5,50 238, 33 a 8,83

Ubi Sibolu

Kasema

104,50 a 5,17 223,00 ab 8,67

Ubi Sibolu

Batang

Beruh

106,00 a 5,17 223,50 ab 8,33

Beta – 1

variet

79,83 b 4,83 207 b 8,50

Note : Mean values followed different letter in the same

column is significantly difference based on DMRT at α =

5% .

The vegetative growth of genotipeSibolu with

accession of SaribuDolok Village Simalungun is

higher than the other two local genotypes, they were

Sibolu with accession Kasemak Village Simalungun

Village and Sibolu with accession BatangBeruh

Village, Dairi which can be seen from all observed

growth parameters. Whereas the vegetative growth

of sweet potato of national superior variety Beta-2 is

the lowest compared to the three local genotypes.

This condition is suspected because the local

genotype has the ability to adapt better to an

environment similar to its original accession.

Environmental similarities, namely climatic and soil

conditions support the growth and development of

local genotypes better than invasive genotypes

(Boshier et al., 2015; Zen and Syarif, 2013). Each

plant genotype requires an environment suitable for

its growth and development (Chen et al., 2015).

ICOSTEERR 2018 - International Conference of Science, Technology, Engineering, Environmental and Ramiﬁcation Researches

Table 2. Vine length and branch number of sweet potatoes

on highland and lowland on 5 and 10 weeks after planting

Altitude Five weeks after

lantin

Ten weeks after

lantin

Vine

lenght

(

)

Branch

number

Vine

lenght

(

)

Branch

number

Lowland

(28 MSAL)

137,33 a 5,33 277,67 a 8,67

Highland

(1440 MSAL)

70,75 b 5,00 168,25 b 8,50

Note : Mean values followed different letter in the same

column is significantly difference based on DMRT at α =

5%.

Sweet potato vegetative growth is strongly

influenced by environmental factors. The results of

the study showed that there were significant

differences in the parameters of vine length, number

of leaves and fresh vine weight of sweet potato

grown in the lowlands and highlands (Table 2 and

Table 4). Previous research also showed that sweet

potatoes grown in the lowlands had longer vines

than those in the highlands (Sulistiani et al., 2018).

This condition is thought to be due to differences in

temperature and rainfall in the lowlands and

highlands. The average temperature in lowland

during April – Juli 2018 in the day 27°C, 22°C in

night and average rainfall was 159.5 mm, while in

the highlands daytime temperatures were 24°C,

14°C in nite and rainfall during the study was 147.8

mm (Data.org, 2018).

Table 3. Number of leaves and fresh vine weight of four

sweet potato genotypes on 5 and 10 weeks after planting

Genotype Five weeks after

lanting

Ten weeks after

lanting

Number

of leaves

Fresh vine

wei

(g)

Number of

leaves

Fresh vine

wei

(g)

Ubi Sibolu

Saribu

Dolo

62,83 a 259,83 a 146,33 a 644,83 a

Ubi Sibolu

Kasema

59,17 ab 210,83 b 141,50 ab 587,67 ab

Ubi Sibolu

Batang

Beruh

54,33 ab 209,50 b 138,50 ab 591,00 ab

Beta – 1

variet

53,83 b 204,00 b 137, 17 b 534,67 b

Note : Mean values followed different letter in the same

column is significantly difference based on DMRT at α =

The study of Gajanayake et al. (2015) also

shows an increase in temperature will increase the

length of sweet potato stems. The growth of plants

including sweet potatoes is strongly influenced by

temperature, both air temperature and soil

temperature (Gajanayake et al., 2015; Hatfield and

Prueger, 2015; Ravi et al., 2009). An increase in air

temperature plays an important role in stem

extension, canopy development, and biomass

accumulation (Patel and Franklin, 2009). Optimum

temperature for growth and stem and need leaf area

between 29-30˚C.

Table 4. Number of leaves and fresh vine weight of sweet

potatoes on highland and lowland on 5 and 10 weeks after

planting

Altitude Five weeks after

lantin

Ten weeks after

lantin

Number

of leaves

Fresh vine

weight (g)

Number

of leaves

Fresh vine

weight (g)

Lowland

(

28 MSAL

)

59,17 232,33 a 145,00 a 623,17 a

Highland

(1440

MSAL)

55,92 209,75 b 136,75 b 555,92 b

Note : Mean values followed different letter in the same

column is significantly difference based on DMRT at α =

The results showed that the number of leaves and

fresh vine weight were influenced by the genotype

and environment of growing sweet potatoes (Table 3

and Table 4). Number of leaves and fresh vine

weight of local genotypes were higher than those of

superior varieties of Beta-1, and sweet potatoes

grown in the lowlands also had a number of leaves

and fresh vine weight which was higher than in the

highlands. The plant canopy plays an important role

as a source of photosynthate producing which will

determine plant productivity. Leaves are important

plant organs because they contain pigments or

biochromes which play a role in light absorption.

Pigments such as chlorophyll are needed by plants to

absorb light for photosynthesis (Hue et al., 2011).

Chlorophyll content is one of the determinants of

plant growth (Rosmayati and Bakti, 2018)

Evaluation of Vegetative Growth and Total Chlorophyll of Four Sweet Potato Genotypes in the Highland and Lowland

Table 5. Total chlorophyll of four sweet potato genotypes

on 5 and 10 weeks after planting

Genotype

Total chlorophyll

(

Ubi Sibolu Saribu Dolo

2,02

Ubi Sibolu Kasema

2,01

Ubi Sibolu Batang Beruh 1,95

Beta

–

1 variet

2,03

Based on statistical analysis, the total

chlorophyll in the sweet potato genoltipe was not

significantly different (Table 5). The highest

chlorophyll total is in Beta - 1 varieties. Chlorophyll

formation is influenced by several factors, namely

plant genetic factors, light intensity, oxygen,

carbohydrates, nutrients, water, and temperature

(Setyanti et al., 2013).

Table 6. Total chlorophyll of sweet potato on five on

highland and lowlandon 5 and 10 weeks after planting

Genotype Total chlorophyll (mg/g)

Lowland (28 MSAL) 2,06 a

hland

(

1440 MSAL

)

1,95 b

Note : Mean values followed different letter is

significantly difference based on DMRT at α = 5%.

The results of the study show that total

chlorophyll is significantly influenced by

environmental factors. The total chlorophyll in sweet

potato leaves cultivated in the lowland is higher than

that of sweet potatoes grown in the highlands (Table

6). Total chlorophyll content in the lowlands

increased by 5.64% compared to the highlands. This

condition is due to the higher light intensity and air

temperature in the lowlands. Chlorophyll formation

is affected by sunlight and air temperature.

Dwidjoseputro (1981) stated that chlorophyll can be

formed in the presence of sunlight which directly

affects plants and 30-40°C temperature is a good

condition for chlorophyll formation in most plants,

but the best is at temperatures between 26-30°C.

4 CONCLUSIONS

Evaluation of vegetative growth and total

chlorophyll parameters shows three local sweet

potato genotypes from upland areas in Simalungun

Regency and DairiRegency Sumatera Utara have

the ability to adapt and grow well in the lowland and

in the highland which are not their origin compared

to varieties Beta-2 which is a national superior

variety. Vegetative growth of four sweet potato

genotypes is better in the lowlands than in the

highlands.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This research is part of the research supported by

Universitas Sumatera Utara through the scheme

TALENTA USU 2018 with contract number: 2590 /

UN5.1.R / PPM / 2018, 16 March 2018. The author

would like to thank for the financial support and

facilities for this research.

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Evaluation of Vegetative Growth and Total Chlorophyll of Four Sweet Potato Genotypes in the Highland and Lowland