The Amino Acid Composition of Five Species of Yams (Dioscorea)1

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Abstract
Principal component analysis based on 19 characters (amino acids and protein measurements) was used to analyze differences among 46 cultivars in 5 yam species: (Dioscorea alata L., D. rotundata Poir., D. esculenta Burkill, D. trifida L.f., and D. bulbifera L.). Considerable diversity existed in amino acid composition among cultivars within species and also between species. Most of the cultivars contained adequate amounts of the essential amino acids except those containing sulfur. The quantity of sulfur-containing amino acids was not associated with individual species or geographical sources. Large variation in the methionine to half-cystine ratio was found, and these amino acids in the 5 species composed 50% to 79% of the amount found in the FAO reference protein. The essential amino acids leucine, phenylalanine, and threonine were present in sufficient excess to supplement proteins from other sources. The pattern of diversity for amino acids was compatible with current biochemical knowledge and suggested that in yams most amino acids are inherited independently of each other.

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