Abstract

Cocoyam (Colocasia esculenta, Xanthosoma atrovirens, and X. sagittifolium) is a traditional staple root crop in many developing and underdeveloped countries, where they are grown primarily for their edible corms, cormels, and leaflets. Cocoyam is vital for addressing food and nutrient security, climate change, environmental sustainability, and poverty reduction because it is essentially produced by small-scale, resource-poor, female farmers with minimal agricultural input. This work evaluated how storage conditions affect the physicochemical properties of cocoyam and how it influences the use of cocoyam as a food ingredient. Collected corms and cormels were stored for 201 days at room temperature. Subsequently, quantitative proximate, mineral, and phytochemical analyses were carried out using standard laboratory techniques. Results suggest that long-term storage may potentially lead to species-specific significant changes in some nutritional contents of cocoyam. Moreover, the analysis of secondary phytochemicals suggests that cyanide, oxalate, and saponin contents are negatively affected by long-term storage in C. esculenta and X. sagittifolium. All mineral constituents assessed from the corms of the two Xanthosoma species were significantly reduced, possibly owing to storage temperature and humidity. On the basis of our results, stored X. atrovirens may be recommended for consumption by diabetic patients because a large amount of the carbohydrate content was removed after 201 days of storage. The long-term storage of cocoyam may affect their viability and delay germination as well as alter their palatability and utilization owing to a reduction in their nutrient composition, appearance, and food characteristics. The findings of this study suggest the need for innovative storage methods for cocoyam while contributing to the discourse on cocoyam food properties.