Antioxidative response of new cultivar of sweet potato ‘Awachy-1’ under drought stress

Periodic drought is a major challenge in sweet potato production. This study evaluates the drought tolerance of two new sweet potato cultivars from Universitas Padjadjaran, Awachy-1 and Biang, compared to the drought-tolerant cultivar Rancing. The cultivars were tested under three irrigation intervals (1, 3, and 5 days). After 15 days, Awachy-1 demonstrated the greatest potential for drought tolerance, exhibiting high antioxidant activity that reduced leaf pigment loss under drought stress. At 3-day intervals, chlorophyll decreased by 5–19.35% and carotenoids by 11.98–30.78%; at 5-day intervals, chlorophyll dropped by 12.8–27.6% and carotenoids by 9.51–11.71%. Awachy-1 maintained greater pigment stability than Biang and Rancing. Under drought stress, Awachy-1 also exhibited the highest superoxide dismutase activities at both 3-day (0.13 U/g) and 5-day (0.14 U/g) intervals. In terms of tuber weight, Awachy-1 showed no significant reduction (508.33 g), whereas Biang (426.67 g) and Rancing (445 g) experienced substantial losses. These findings highlight Awachy-1 as a promising drought-tolerant cultivar for sweet potato production.