Huckleberry Gold: A Specialty Market Potato Cultivar with Purple-Skin, Yellow-Flesh, High Tuber Antioxidants, and Resistance to Potato Cyst Nematode (H1) and Potato virus X (Nb and Rx1)

Huckleberry Gold is a purple-skin, yellow-flesh fresh market cultivar with similar culinary qualities to the market standard Yukon Gold. It has lower specific gravity, sucrose and vitamin C content, but a significantly higher level of tuber antioxidants than Yukon Gold. Notable disease resistant characteristics are Potato virus X resistance based on the presence of molecular markers for the PVX resistance genes, Nb and Rx1. In addition it also has the H1 gene present which confers resistance to the potato cyst nematode, Globodera rostochiensis, which has been confirmed by bioassay to pathotype Ro1. The size profile of Huckleberry Gold is smaller than Yukon Gold, allowing a better fit into specialty markets that are geared to smaller size for fresh use. Huckleberry Gold represents the first purple-skin, yellow-flesh cultivar to come from the Northwest (Tri-State) Potato Variety Development program.This is the publisher’s final pdf. The article is copyrighted by the Potato Association of America and published by Springer. It can be found at: http://link.springer.com/journal/12230Keywords: Solanum tuberosum, Variety, Globodera rostochiensis, PV

Acrylamide-Forming Potential and Agronomic Properties of Elite US Potato Germplasm from the National Fry Processing Trial

Processed potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) products, such as chips and French fries, contribute to the dietary intake of acrylamide, a suspected human carcinogen. One of the most promising approaches for reducing its consumption is to develop and commercialize new potato varieties with low acrylamide-forming potential. To facilitate this effort, a National Fry Processing Trial (NFPT) was conducted from 2011 to 2013 in five states. More than 140 advanced breeding lines were evaluated for tuber agronomic traits and biochemical properties from harvest through 8 mo of storage. Thirty-eight and 29 entries had significantly less acrylamide in French fries than standard varieties Russet Burbank and Ranger Russet, with reductions in excess of 50%, after one and 8 mo of storage, respectively. As in previous studies, the glucose content of raw tubers was predictive of acrylamide in finished French fries (R² = 0.64–0.77). Despite its role in acrylamide formation, tuber free asparagine was not significant, potentially because it showed relatively little variation in the NFPT population. Even when glucose was included in the model as a covariate, genotype was highly significant (p = 0.001) for predicting acrylamide, indicating there may be yet-unidentified genetic loci to target in breeding. The NFPT has demonstrated that there exist many elite US breeding lines with low acrylamide-forming potential. Our ongoing challenge is to combine this trait with complex quality attributes required by the fry processing industry.This is the publisher’s final pdf. The published article is copyrighted by the Crop Science Society of America and can be found at: https://dl.sciencesocieties.org/publications/c

"AmaRosa," a Red Skinned, Red Fleshed Fingerling with High Phytonutrient Value

The diversity of traits in varieties of potato outside of its South American birthplace is a small subset of that available in the Andean center of origin. Among the traits that evoke most interest are skin and flesh pigments. Recent studies have pointed to the high antioxidant activity and potential healthful benefits from these pigments or other antioxidant compounds. The market for potatoes with unusual color patterns has been supplied largely by heirloom varieties of uncertain origin and the highly successful Yukon Gold. Interest has intensified and been transformed into a focused effort in the breeding of specialty varieties, remarkable for their unusual colors. The purpose of this paper is to describe a new potato variety in the Fingerling Class with red skin and red flesh.This is the publisher’s final pdf. The article is copyrighted by the Potato Association of America and published by Springer. It can be found at: http://www.springerlink.com/content/1099-209x/Keywords: Fingerling, ORAC, Anthocyanin, Antioxidant

Evaluating potato evapotranspiration and crop coefficients in the Columbia Basin of Washington state

The current potato crop coefficient values have yet to be updated to account for newly released potato cultivars and changing climate since their inception in the 1970s. In irrigation scheduling, crop coefficients, representing three development stages, play a critical role in modeling evapotranspiration. In this study, we developed crop coefficients and evaluated crop evapotranspiration trends of five Pacific Northwest-grown russet cultivars. The field study was conducted during 2018, 2019, and 2020 growing seasons at the Washington State University Irrigated Agricultural Research and Extension Center near Othello, Washington. The potato cultivars included Alturas, Clearwater Russet, Ranger Russet, Russet Burbank, and Umatilla Russet. Crop evapotranspiration was computed using a combination of environmental and soil sensors and the soil water balance method. Crop coefficient values were developed by dividing crop evapotranspiration by reference evapotranspiration based on alfalfa. Soil water content measurements revealed that Alturas and Clearwater Russet’s water consumption was significantly higher than that of Russet Burbank during the last eight weeks before harvest. During the mid-season, crop evapotranspiration calculations of Alturas and Clearwater Russet were nearly identical, averaging 7.22 mm day−1. In contrast, the lowest crop evapotranspiration was observed in Russet Burbank, with 6.89 mm day−1. The average crop coefficient values resulting from evaluating five full-season russet potato cultivars were determined to be 0.40 during the initial stage, 0.95 during the mid-season, and 0.57 during the late-season stage. This study offers valuable information to potato growers in the Columbia Basin, enabling them to make informed decisions by providing updated crop coefficient values for determining evapotranspiration and affording them with insight into the water consumption patterns of five distinct russet potato cultivars

Fresh Potato and Meat Preferences by U.S. Region

We develop an econometric model to identify factors that influence fresh-market demand for red, russet, Yukon, and organic potatoes. Explanatory variables include potato price, pork price, chicken price, steak price, consumer income, Body Mass Index, organic penetration rate, number of Whole Foods stores, and U.S. region. We find the strongest demand for organic and Yukon potatoes in New England, for russets in the East South Central region and for reds in the West North Central region. White meats were complements for Yukons and organics while red meats complemented russets and reds. Own-price elasticities ranged from −0.60 for reds to −1.50 for organic potatoes

Alpine Russet: A Potato Cultivar Having Long Tuber Dormancy Making it Suitable for Processing from Long-term Storage

Abstract Alpine Russet is a later maturing, oblong-long, lightly russeted potato cultivar, notable for having tuber dormancy comparable to Russet Burbank. Processing quality of Alpine Russet from long-term storage is superior to Russet Burbank, with low percent reducing sugars and uniform fry color due to a low percentage difference of sugars between the bud and stem ends. Alpine Russet yields were comparable to Russet Burbank in early harvest trials and were comparable or significantly larger in late harvest trials depending on the location. At two late season locations, Alpine Russet had the largest total and percent No. 1 yields and the largest percent mid-range No. 1 tubers compared to Ranger Russet and Russet Burbank. It has moderately high specific gravity and is resistant to most external and internal defects. Alpine Russet has been evaluated in public and industry trials throughout the Western U.S. for over 15 years. Resumen Alpine Russet es una variedad de papa de madures tardía, larga-oblonga, ligeramente como Russet, notable por tener una dormancia del tubérculo comparable a Russet Burbank. La calidad de procesamiento de Alpine Russet después de un almacenamiento prolongado es superior a Russet Burbank, con bajo porcentaje de azúcares reductores y color uniforme de freído debido a la baja diferencia en porcentaje de azúcares entre la yema apical y la base. Los rendimientos de Alpine Russet fueron comparables a Russet Burbank en ensayos de cosecha temprana y fueron comparables o significativamente mayores en ensayos de cosecha tardía, dependiendo del lugar. En dos lugares de ciclo tardío, Alpine Russet tuvo los mayores rendimientos totales y en porcentaje de No. 1, y el mayor porcentaje de tubérculos de amplitud media No. 1 comparada con Ranger Russet y Russet Burbank. Tiene moderadamente alta gravedad específica y es resistente a la mayoría de los defectos externos e internos. Alpine Russet ha sido evaluada en ensayos públicos y de la industria a lo largo del oeste de los E.U. por más de 15 años