Abstract
Artifacts dated about 50,000 bc from West Africa indicate wild yams were used for food prior to that time. The growing of yams appears to have developed independently in two regions, in West Africa and Southeast Asia about 3000 bc. The present-day D. bulbifera, which is grown for the aerial tubers, is indigenous to both regions. The basic chromosome number of the American yams is n = 9 while those of Asian and African origins are n = 10. Yams show high polyploidy; a race of D. cayenesis is reported to have a 2n = 140.
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© 1983 The AVI Publishing Company, Inc.
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Yamaguchi, M. (1983). Yam. In: World Vegetables. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-7907-2_12
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-7907-2_12
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