2019 ASHS Annual Conference

Reducing shoot growth has many biological importance in plants. Shoot growth retardation increases source to sink ratio. The decreased shoot biomass concomitantly increase photosynthates to move towards roots in some plants. Many new generation gibberellin biosynthetic inhibitors like Apogee (which contains 27.5% prohexadione-calcium) known to exhibit shoot reduction and has been used in reducing shoot growth of horticultural crops such as apples. The overall objective of the study was to evaluate the impact of field application of Apogee on sweet potato. Two popular varieties of sweet potatoes, O'Henry and Beauregard were planted in field conditions in Alcorn State Experiment Station under completely randomized block design. Root and Shoot samples were collected at 30 days after panting, 60 days after panting and at harvest. Samples were analyzed for total phenolics, Chlorgeneic acid and β-Carotene. Our results indicate that Apogee did not significantly influence the level of most secondarily metabolites. This indicate that the secondary metabolites synthesis is not influenced by growth retardant in sweet potato. The presentation will deal with impact of Apogee on the secondary metabolites such as carotene and phenolic compounds will be discussed.