ISHS Acta Horticulturae 619: XXVI International Horticultural Congress: Potatoes, Healthy Food for Humanity: International Developments in Breeding, Production, Protection and Utilization
GENETIC AND ENVIRONMENTAL INTERACTIONS AFFECTING POTATO AFTER-COOKING DARKENING |
| Authors: | G. Wang-Pruski, T. Astatkie, H. De Jong, Y. Leclerc |
| Keywords: | After-cooking darkening, genetic and environmental effects |
| Abstract:
Potato after-cooking darkening (ACD) is one of the most widespread, undesirable, characteristics of cultivated potato. It occurs when potatoes are exposed to air after cooking including boiling, baking, frying or dehydration. ACD is caused by a non-enzymatic oxidation reaction. A bluish-gray compound ferri-dichlorogenic acid is responsible for the dark color formation. Currently ACD is partially prevented by adding sodium acid pyrophosphate during French fry processing. Although some potato varieties are more resistant to ACD than others, there have been no varieties developed which possess a low degree of ACD as well as the desired French-fry processing qualities. Genetic control governs the darkening, but the degree of the darkening also depends on the plant growth environment and the length and conditions of storage. This report demonstrates genetic variations of the ACD from a diploid population and the effect of field and storage conditions in cultivars Russet Burbank and Shepody grown in two locations in New Brunswick and one location in Nova Scotia. The data were collected in both year 2000 and 2001. In case of diploid samples, the degree of the darkening is stable in each tested clone. In both years, the field conditions did not have a significant effect on the overall degree of darkening in both varieties. The intensity of ACD increased during storage in both varieties, and Russet Burbank consistently exhibited higher ACD than Shepody, regardless of the location. The location had much more pronounced effect on the degree of ACD in Russet Burbank than Shepody, but the location effect is not as strong as the variety effect. | |
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