Cultivation techniques of yam influence the amount of primary and secondary metabolites

David Krüger¹Philip Drell²Jenny Riekötter²Johanna Altmannshofer³Robert Weber³Matthias Busl³Janina Epping^2*Alexander Weng^1*

• ¹Department of Pharmaceutical Biology, Institute of Pharmacy, Freie Universitat Berlin, Berlin, Germany
• ²Institute of Plant Biology and Biotechnology, Universitat Munster, Münster, Germany
• ³Andreashof e.V., Überlingen, Germany

Agriculture is an indispensable practice with a long history that dates back millennia. The cultivation of Chinese yam (Dioscorea polystachya Turczaninow) is of social importance but not yet optimized, despite the process is currently complex and labor-intensive. Notwithstanding, the plant is regarded as a promising supplementation for ensuring food security, even in the face of climate change. This is due to its nutritional value and its diversity contribution to the cultivation of food crops. The EKO-YAM project, presented in this work, is thus concerned with the implementation and evaluation of four different cultivation methods with regard to the content of primary and secondary compounds, as well as economic factors. This study shows insides into the scientific monitoring of growing and the impact of the cultivation technique on starch and secondary metabolites. The superordinate goal was the improvement of the growing of Dioscorea polystachya in terms of diet, metabolites, costs, and sustainability.