Cryopreservation is the only technique ensuring the safe, long-term and cost-effective conservation of germplasm of vegetatively propagated species. Its applicability is currently being evaluated in Guadeloupe for the long-term storage of the yam germplansm collection maintained by INRA. The first preliminary positive results have been obtained with Dioscorea cayenensis-rotundata shoot tips frozen using the droplet-vitrification technique. Additional experiments are under way to improve the results, to test other cryopreservation techniques and to apply them to different Dioscorea species. Indexation of regenerated material, to evaluate the efficiency of virus elimination through cryopreservation, will be performed when recovery after freezing in liquid nitrogen is consistently achieved.