Variability in Biochemical Composition and Cell Wall Constituents among Seven Varieties in Ghanaian Yam

This work characterized the most cultivated and consumed yam (Dioscorea) cultivars within the Ghanaian yam germplasm based on their biochemical and cell wall constituents to assess their potential alternative food and industrial processing applications. Samples were analyzed for their biochemical composition - starch, amylose, amylopectin, total sugars, reducing sugars and non-reducing sugars along the head, middle and tail regions of each tuber using standard analytical methods. Cell wall constituents - acid detergent fibre, neutral detergent fibre, acid detergent lignin, cellulose and hemicellulose of each tuber were also determined using standard analytical methods. The results showed no significant differences at p