Showing papers in "Philippine Journal of Crop Science in 1997"

Correlations among accessions of Southeast Asian Luffa genetic resources and variability estimated by morphological and biochemical methods

Abstract: This study has morphologically described 91 accessions of Luffa and quantified the variation within the collection taking the smooth and angled species separately. The L. acutangula group was found to have lower overall variation, as indicated by computed H values and character means compared to L. cylindrica. However, electrophoresis of seed proteins suggested otherwise. Computed correlation coefficients among fruit characters were high as well as values between fruit and vegetative characters. Cluster analysis revealed two major clusters analysis of each species and several small clusters comprised of 17 accessions. Two accessions were found to be probable duplicates and another two accessions were noted to be hermaprodites

Ethnobotanical survey of edible aroids in the Philippines; 1: farmers' beliefs, experiences and uses

Abstract: Taro (Colocasia esculenta), yautia (Xanthosoma sagittifolium), giant taro (Alocasia macrorrhiza), swamp taro (Cyrtosperma chamissonis) and elephant foot yam (Amorphophallus campanulatus) comprise the edible aroids (Araceae) in the Philippines. Among these, it is only taro that is culturally and economically important. Yautia is also important but only to a very limited degree. Because of their use and extent of production, taro and yautia are considered as major aroids while the other three, minor aroids. The major aroids are grown largely for food in practically all parts of the country whereas, the minor aroids are planted as surety crops especially in calamity-prone areas and for processing into special food products. The minor aroids can be found in greater concentration only in certain places of the country. The people in many rural areas adhere to a lot of folk beliefs regarding increasing the size of corms, getting rid of the itchy nature, and ensuring good yield of the edible aroids. The indigenous knowledge system and traditional uses of the edible aroids are two significant reasons why the edible aroids, particularly the minor ones, are still in cultivation at present in some locations