New Spud with 10X Carotene?

[thefuture]

www.abc.net.au/rural/news/content/201002/s2817713.htm

"A new potato, high in Vitamin A and antioxidants, is being trialed at Crookwell in southern NSW.

The secret spud is a cross between a commercial potato and a wild one from Peru.

Dutch potato distributor Agrico has supplied the germplasm, which growers like Gary Cadwell are multiplying.

Mr Cadwell hopes it can become a superfood that could cure eye problems in the developing world.

"A normal potato might carry 5000 parts per million of betacarotene," he says.

"We're hoping this new cross might carry 50,000 to 55,000 parts per million."

"So you can see all of a sudden we've produced a food that has many health and medical benefits.""

[Tom Wagner]

Thanks Future, for posting that link. Too bad they can't say anything about the pedigree of that cross in NSW. I have been involved in this kind of research too, but because I get little publicity not too many know about my work with the high carotene like components.

Here is a quote that sheds some light on this subject:

Carotenoids are found in all potatoes in the flesh. White-fleshed varieties have 50 to 100 μg per 100 g fresh weight (FW), while moderately yellow-fleshed varieties will generally possess from 100 to 350 μg per 100 g FW. The more intensely yellow-fleshed genotypes, which may look orange, at the higher extremes are at levels above 1,000 μg per 100 g FW. The highest level published is 2,600 μg per 100 g FW in diploid germplasm derived from South American Papa Amarilla cultivars. Potato generally has predominantly lutein, a xanthophyll which is also found in the human retina, and must be obtained in the diet

I have used the Papa Amarilla types in my breeding for many years. I would say that my lines would be not 10X but closer to 25X the carotene! I have found it easier to keep the high levels or orange flesh in diploids but I do have a complicated population of tuberosum/phureja crosses, F-2's, F-3's, etc that are getting close to those highest levels.

My Skagit Valley Gold is but one of my candidates for this effort. Too bad I didn't have at least some interest in this potato when I had up to 2 acres of it and several years of certified seed. I am down to just a handful of them now.

But then, again, I have lots of TPS to promote this kind of healthy benefit in potatoes in there is ever a need to pick up production.

Tom Wagner

[thefuture]

Interesting. We should scrouge up some funds for lab tests somehow...

[Tom Wagner]

Two of my varieties were sent by a grower I was working with to Prosser, WA for testing. Negro y Azul and Skagit Valley Gold.

Both were higher in the phenols (flavor component) than most commercial varieties but NyA was off the charts when it came to the high levels of anthocyanin. I was not privy to that last information until I attended a Washington/Oregon conference on Feb. 19.

There is a growing interest in the phytonutrients of potatoes as a way to counter the growing perception of the public that potatoes are to be shunned. However, since I am a conflict of interest to the USDA lab in Prosser, I will have to pursue other venues for my work with high nutrition potato varieties.

Many of my lines of potatoes are related to the latest information coming out of Prosser. The line -37 seems to be the favorite of the Prosser lines for flavor, yellow flesh and nutrients, and I know the family well.....I had all the sibling tubers of that hybrid back in '02. I need to find the TPS of all the sibs for that one to grow out.

Tom Wagner