ABSTRACT

Cocoyam (Xanthosoma and Colocasia) are important root and tuber crops which are cultivated, processed and extensively in Nigeria. They are two edible aroids grown in humid tropical  of Asia Africa and Latin America and usually used for staple food crop by millions of people in developing countries. It is also known for its medical, economical and industrial potentials. A morphological characterization study was carried out in Benin City, Edo state. The aim of the study was to determine the difference in the morphological characterization between Colocasia and Xanthosoma. The plants were grown in a complete block design with five replications each from October 2021 to January 2022. A total of 26 characters were studied for both accessions. The data derived was analyzed using SPSS to show the correlation between the qualitative and quantitative characters such as plant height, leaf length, petiole color, corm length, corm weight, etc. The result shows the morphological variation among Xanthosoma and Colocasia.