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ARS Home » Pacific West Area » Albany, California » Western Regional Research Center » Produce Safety and Microbiology Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #309636
Title: Glycoalkaloids and calystegine alkaloids in potatoes

Author
item Friedman, Mendel
item Levin, Carol

Submitted to: Elsevier
Publication Type: Book / Chapter
Publication Acceptance Date: 11/16/2015
Publication Date: 2/10/2016
Citation: Friedman, M., Levin, C.E. 2016. Glycoalkaloids and calystegine alkaloids in potatoes. In: Singh, J., Kaur, L., editors. Advances in Potato Chemistry and Technology. Oxford, UK: Elsevier. p. 115-125.

Interpretive Summary: This chapter was prepared in response to an invitation from the Editor to contribute a manuscript to the second edition of the book entitled “Advances in Potato Chemistry and Technology” to be published in 2015 by Elsevier/Academic Press, San Diego, California. We also contributed a chapter to the first edition, published in 2009. The current chapter updates and integrates the results of our published studies and those by other investigators on the analysis and distribution of glycoalkaloids and calystegine alkaloids in cultivated and uncultivated potato varieties and adverse and beneficial bioactivities of the two classes of potato ingredients. Beneficial effects include antimicrobial activities against Salmonella in vivo via stimulation of the immune system and anticarcinogenic activities. The herein described findings are not only of fundamental interest, but have practical implications for nutrition, food safety, and animal and human health.

Technical Abstract: Potatoes contain two classes of alkaloids: the glycoalkaloids and the calystegines. The presence of glycoalkaloids in potatoes and their toxicity has been known for more than a century and much has been written about them. Discovery of the nortropane calystegine alkaloids is more recent, and the knowledge of their presence in potatoes even more so. Glycoalkaloids are highly toxic when consumed at sufficiently high levels; however the toxicity of the calystegine alkaloids is largely unknown. In this chapter, we review the accumulated knowledge and history of the analysis, prevalence in the diet, factors affecting their abundance in potatoes, toxicity, and potential healthful benefits of both classes of alkaloids.