Application of a picrate semi-quantitative screening assay for the cyanogenic potential of cassava roots at a remote field site
✍ Scribed by Wilson, Warren M; O'Brien, Gerard M; Dufour, Darna L
- Publisher
- John Wiley and Sons
- Year
- 2000
- Tongue
- English
- Weight
- 88 KB
- Volume
- 80
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 0022-5142
No coin nor oath required. For personal study only.
✦ Synopsis
The purpose of this research was to test the accuracy of the picrate screening assay (PSA) in the evaluation of the cyanogenic potential of cassava roots at a remote ®eld site under conditions of unusual dif®culty. To do this, a PSA was conducted in the ®eld and compared to data collected previously on ®ve of the same cassava varieties using the Cooke colorimetric enzymic assay. PSA data were collected for 10 different cassava varieties in the Tukanoan Indian village of Yapu  in the Colombian Amazon region. The PSA results agree with Tukanoan classi®cations of cassava; that is, those classi®ed as sweet' by the Tukanoans generally had low-to-moderate parenchymal cyanogenic potential (0±50 mg kg À1 fwb of HCN), while those that they classify as bitter' had high parenchymal cyanogenic potential (!100 mg kg À1 fwb of HCN). The PSA results also agree with the data collected using the Cooke colorimetric enzymic assay. The data suggest that the PSA is an appropriate test of the cyanogenic potential of cassava roots in remote ®eld sites.