To boost adoption of new yam varieties most suited to boiling, the team first produced a map of characteristics demanded by food-chain actors (such as RTB crop producers and processors and product consumers), and established the drivers for selecting key traits (such as color). The team characterized boiled-yam quality using qualitative surveys along the food chain to identify those quality criteria that define acceptable or superior yam tuber quality.  Working with boiled-yam processors during the boiling process, the team identified varietal characteristics that help produce higher quality boiled yam, and reduce processing time and drudgery.

Additional consumer testing helped better capture the necessary quality assessments of boiled yam. This involved hedonic testing to assess consumer acceptability and preferences of boiled yam. Testing included a ‘just about right’ (JAR) test, and a list of ‘check all that apply’ (CATA) questions. 

In parallel with biochemical and physical analyses, sensory quantitative descriptive analyses (QDA) then identified the key drivers of sensory attributes (see below).

Results from steps 1 and 2 of the five-step methodology have been published and a Gendered Food Product Profile for boiled yam in Benin has been agreed by a multidisciplinary team (WP1) based on the evidence collected on preferred quality characteristics at each step and assessed for their potential harm and benefit for women, based on an adapted G+ tool (publication pending by Forsythe et al. 

The research team has identified several key user-preferred quality traits that have not been traditionally included in breeding pipelines. These include color and textural quality followed by taste and aroma which are lesser attributes. Yam breeders have expressed commitment to integrating these traits into their breeding programmes.