title: Feed and fuel: the dual-purpose advantage of an industrial sweetpotato.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Sustainable agricultural systems must support nutritional requirements, meet the energy demands of a growing population, preserve environmental resources and mitigate climate change. The sweetpotato (Ipomoea batatas L.) is a high-yielding crop that requires minimal fertilization and irrigation, and the CX-1 industrial cultivar offers superior potential for feed and fuel.
  
  
  RESULTS
  CX-1 had the highest agronomic fresh vine yield (51.5 t ha-1), averaged over two cropping seasons, compared with Hernandez (33.7) and Beauregard (21.8) varieties. CX-1 vines were more nutritional than the table varieties, specifically in regard to relative feed value (205), water-soluble carbohydrates (171 g kg-1dry matter (DM)), total digestible nutrients (643 g kg-1DM), metabolizable energy (10.2 MJ kg-1DM) and organic matter digestibility. Their lower fiber and lignin concentrations contributed to their freshness and digestibility throughout maturity. Significantly higher iron concentrations make the CX-1 vines a valuable, low-fat iron supplement for animal feed. The CX-1 roots also showed the highest bioethanol potential (82.3 g ethanol kg-1fresh root) compared to Hernandez (64.5) and Beauregard (48.1).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The CX-1 industrial sweetpotato is an ideal dual-purpose crop for tropical/subtropical climates that can be utilized as a non-grain-based feedstock for bioethanol production while contributing a valuable, high-yielding nutritional supplement for animal feed. © 2016 Society of Chemical Industry.
authors.affiliation: Soil and Water Sciences Department, University of Florida - IFAS, Gainesville, FL 32611-0960, USA.
authors.forename: Wendy A
authors.initials: WA
authors.lastname: Mussoline
authors.affiliation: Soil and Water Sciences Department, University of Florida - IFAS, Gainesville, FL 32611-0960, USA.
authors.forename: Ann C
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Wilkie
mesh_terms: D000821:Animal Feed / Q000032:analysis*; D056804:Biofuels; D004043:Dietary Fiber / Q000032:analysis; D019587:Dietary Supplements / Q000032:analysis; D027723:Ipomoea batatas / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000254:growth & development; D007501:Iron; D009753:Nutritive Value; D018517:Plant Roots / Q000737:chemistry; D018547:Plant Stems / Q000737:chemistry
chemical_list: D056804:Biofuels; D004043:Dietary Fiber; D007501:Iron
keywords: animal feed; bioethanol; industrial cultivar; roots; sweetpotato; vines