恆春山藥(Dioscorea doryophora Hance)為臺灣特有之山藥品種,主要分布於臺灣南部之恆春半島,由於具有穩定高產量、優異品質的地下塊莖,深受屏東地區農民的喜愛。山藥是臺灣是一種重要的塊莖類作物,優良種原的保存對於山藥的改良生產與利用是必要的工作。40種從恆春半島採集來的恆春山藥不同樣品,種植於屏東科技大學農場之栽培試驗區,進行田間觀察並調查其產量、農藝性狀、遺傳歧異度和成分含量等各方面的表現。外部型態鑑定和RAPD分析研究的結果顯示,不同恆春山藥樣品族群間出現高度的遺傳歧異性。HPLC成分分析結果顯示,各恆春山藥樣品之間allantoin成分的含量有明顯的差異。
Dioscorea doryophora Hance, a unique cultivar of yam, has a distribution mainly in Hengtsun Peninsula in southern Taiwan. Because of its consistently high yield and excellent quality, D. doryophora is one of the most popular root crops in Pingtung, Taiwan, and hence preservation of the germplasm of D. doryophora with excellent productivity becomes necessary for the improvement of its production and utilization. Forty different genotypes of yam collected from the Hengtsun Peninsula were planted in the experimental farm of the National Pingtung University of Science and Technology for further observations. Production potentials, agronomic characteristics, genetic differences, and nutritional compositions of these genotypes were evaluated. Based on the morphological characteristics and RAPD analyses, a high degree of genetic variation was detected among the population of Hengtsun yam genotypes. Results of the HPLC analysis of nutritional compositions showed that there was a significant variation in allantoin content among the genotypes.