Detecting the genetic variants associated with key culinary traits in Dioscorea alata

Quality attributes play a pivotal role in determining consumers’ acceptance and market value of food crops. Dioscorea alata is a major yam species for food security in tropical areas, but our understanding of the genetic factors underlying tuber culinary traits is limited. This study aimed at elucidating the genetic basis of key culinary attributes, including apparent dry matter content (DM), cooking time, boiled yam hardness, and moldability, through genome-wide association studies (GWAS). Phenotypic assessment revealed notable variations among the D. alata genotypes and significant correlations among the quality traits. The GWAS identified 25 significant associations distributed across 14 chromosomes. A total of 12, 1, 6, 6 single nucleotide polymorphisms were detected for cooking time, moldability, hardness and DM. Allele segregation analysis of the identified loci highlighted favorable alleles for short cooking time, good moldability, high hardness and DM content. Within a set of 42 putative candidate genes, we identified genes differentially expressed in tubers of genotypes with contrasting quality attributes. Our study offers valuable insights into the links between these key culinary traits and the underlying genetic basis in D. alata. These findings have practical implications for breeding programs aimed at enhancing the quality attributes of greater yam.