atash
Junior Member
Learning from my mistakes since 1964
Posts: 96
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Post by atash on Sept 22, 2012 15:59:40 GMT -8
I'm cross-posting here because this is "your" forum (no, it's pro-boards forum) and you have a little more control over it:
I'd like to restart the discussion regarding higher-protein potatoes. The impetus is the major crop losses due to drought, that will significantly impact protein supplies in the near future.
I'm aware of genetically-modified potatoes in India, that have Amaranth genes in them. I don't think that is acceptable to "western" markets so I'm not talking about that.
What is the current state-of-the-art, Tom, and would it be feasible to select for higher protein? What would you suggest for such a project?
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Post by wingnut on Sept 22, 2012 16:18:06 GMT -8
Butte is known to have a higher protein level than most
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Post by Tom Wagner on Sept 22, 2012 19:58:51 GMT -8
Butte, is indeed, a variety that has a higher protein than say Russet Burbank. Butte is in the pedigree of Classic, Clearwater and Premier Russets and each of these have a higher protein level by as much as 33%. The potenitial to have 50% more protein by dry weight is out there, but it would require an intersted party to foot the bill for lab tests for new clones.
I have lots of TPS from those higher protein potatoes and will grow them out someday when the time is right. I have 'talked' about this venue for years but it falls on deaf ears.
I don't have time to dwell on this subject since I am typing at my sister in laws house and have to get to bed.
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atash
Junior Member
Learning from my mistakes since 1964
Posts: 96
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Post by atash on Sept 23, 2012 8:50:39 GMT -8
Trixtrax mentioned Butte, and I looked up the announcement of its release. I am curious whether the protein that is being measured is a function of the genetics of the potato, or of how much nitrogen fertilizer was pumped into its system while it was being grown out for testing prior to the press release. Not to sound dismissive--just cautious. I keep running into blind alleys. Trixtrax mentioned that you said something about russets being naturally higher in protein--something like that. It was a tenuous conversation because of a bad phone connection.
Tom, my ears aren't deaf and never were. I was always interested in potatoes as being one of the few staple crops that is easy to raise enough to feed a family on by sheer manual labor without specialized tools. As we're both aware from personal experience, most cereals are hard to plant and harvest with common hand tools and manual labor, and the main exception, corn, is a tropical plant that needs lots of water, heat, climactic stability, and fertilizer. It has just failed catastrophically in the corn belt itself!
So now that the crisis is closer, and we don't have all that much to show for ourselves for grains, my attention returns to potatoes.
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Post by marches on Aug 17, 2014 14:45:19 GMT -8
I was always interested in potatoes as being one of the few staple crops that is easy to raise enough to feed a family on by sheer manual labor without specialized tools. Me too. I like how you think. I have a tendency towards wanting to be self supporting too. |
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atash
Junior Member
Learning from my mistakes since 1964
Posts: 96
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Post by atash on Aug 21, 2014 18:08:27 GMT -8
Thank you, Marches. It may become something of an urgency in the near future. Notice beef prices lately?
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Post by marches on Aug 22, 2014 10:15:24 GMT -8
Thank you, Marches. It may become something of an urgency in the near future. Notice beef prices lately? Yep. And the US and UK have some of the cheapest food prices in the world and it's still expensive even for us. Plus red and processed meats are being blamed for a lot of health issues now and so many people are becoming vegetarian or eating less meat. And there's also the fact that so much food is being fed to cattle in the US and other countries when it could feed many more people much more efficiently (although a lot of it is grass fed in the UK as about half of England is only suitable for pastures). I think the emphasis is shifting to plant protein now. Even of potatoes don't have full protein they can contribute as the liver stores things and together with other sources of protein can make full protein from it. I sowed some oats that I saw growing as a weed at the side of a field today. If they grow I may select them and create and propagate a strain that works for me and get a small milling machine. Seen wheat growing as a weed in the middle of a town too. Nothing serious for release (unlike what I intend with potatoes), but something that grows well for me and would have the qualities I need. I think everyone with a garden should grow a few staple crops. Not really wheat or oats, but potatoes and apples, things to feed yourself on if times do ever get tough. People should have these skills, the inclination to support themselves and the ability to do so to an extent. |
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Post by Tom Wagner on Aug 22, 2014 12:17:45 GMT -8
I am in the works to work with investigators who find higher protein in potatoes. They want me to use some of these discoveries in my breeding with purported higher protein lines observed in the media outlets.
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Post by wmontanez on Aug 23, 2014 4:43:48 GMT -8
I am interested in higher protein potatoes and low glycemic index potatoes.
Do you already have candidates in your work Tom? In TPS form I mean...
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Post by Tom Wagner on Aug 23, 2014 8:20:48 GMT -8
The technology for screening for both low glycemic and higher lysine is not mine. I will have increasing possession of such lines as plants and eventually tubers. This is all from my TPS. No, I don't have any TPS from these said clones. Too early in the development.
Where all of this will go is unknown...I will need greenhouse space for the critical winter months to do this project justice.
The projects I have locally for increase of tuber lines of the low glycemic potatoes will give me lots of tubers but I need to select them for agronomic qualities...I expect a high attrition rate. And for some reason..I am not getting a lot of berries from these lines this year...I need to look closely here in a few weeks for the berries...down on my hands and knees. I will spend a lot of time in the coming months tasting and checking for the 'mouth feel' of the best candidates. Maybe next 2015 season will be the year I build up the TPS on the low glycemic tuber lines.
Do I expect to sell or trial out the combined TPS or tuber lines of LG/high lysine soon? Probably not since the clonal lines must be verified for a while yet.
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Post by stevecrouse on Sept 19, 2014 3:05:46 GMT -8
Tom
Does a high protein correlate to high starch content?
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Post by Tom Wagner on Sept 19, 2014 9:40:04 GMT -8
Clearwater Russet....A new dual purpose russet with high protein and excellent processing qualities has high specific gravity....but I am not so sure the relationship between starch and protein is everything...one of my lines tested for low gravity seems to have a high protein profile. More to come on this subject some day, for sure.
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