The Volcani Center’s Institute of Plant Sciences in Israel is conducting a comprehensive research study on 31 varieties of sweet potatoes, aimed at developing colour range and enriching the vegetable’s nutritious components.

The Volcani research team is successfully growing 31 different varieties of sweet potatoes, which were brought recently to Israel and which contain a wide range of different properties, such as the colour of the outer skin, peel colour, peel of different thickness with different levels of starch and dry matter, and a range of flavours.

The research is being led by Dr Nurit Firon, in conjunction with a team of Volcani researchers, and experts from the ministry of agriculture's extension service and the industrial sector. Dr Firon is focusing her research on the initial development of the roots and the factors that affect the growth process and the process of accumulating starch in the roots, using in her research the sweet potato's large genetic data.