Abstract:Fourteen samples of Huilou yam from planting area of Huilou yam and fifteen samples of Taigu yam from Wuzhi County, Henan Province were collected, and contents of nutritional components, such as reducing sugar, polysaccharide, starch, protein, amino acids and thirteen kinds of trace elements in the samples were determined by different methods. The quality of Huilou yam is identified according to its nutritional components and compared with many other kinds of yam varieties. Mean contents of reducing sugar, polysaccharide, protein and starch in Huilou yam are 15.8, 55.6, 208.6, 108.1/g kg respectively. TAA(Total amino acid )of the yam is 97.7 g/kg, among which EAA(essential amino acid)is 28.05%, and FAA(flavor amino acid) is 36.75%. RAA (ratio of amino acid) and RC (ratio coefficient of amino acid) of most EAA in the yam are higher than 1, contents of methionine and cystine are very rich, and the first limiting amino acid is leucine. SRC(score of RC) of the yam is 74.42, so its nutritional value of EAA is quite high. Mean concentrations of Zn, Mn, Fe, Li, Ba and Sr are 15.68, 3.31, 52.71, 2.28, 1.54, 8.75 g/kg respectively. The results show that many nutritional components in the yam are higher than that in most other Chinese yam varieties. Huilou yam is a very excellent yam variety not only because of higher edible and medicinal values but good taste that is soft and sweet, not hemp and puckery. Chemical component of groundwater in the planting area of Huilou yam is one of the important factors that influence the quality of Huilou yam.
