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ARS Home » Pacific West Area » Wapato, Washington » Temperate Tree Fruit and Vegetable Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #383929
Research Project: Developing New Potatoes with Improved Quality, Disease Resistance, and Nutritional Content

Location: Temperate Tree Fruit and Vegetable Research

Title: Antioxidants in Potatoes: A functional view on one of the major food crops worldwide

Author
item Navarre, Duroy - Roy
item HNINSI, MOE - Washington State University

Submitted to: Potato Association of America Proceedings
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 4/19/2021
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules26092446

Interpretive Summary: Environmental signals such as light can cause potatoes to turn green and have an increase in toxic glycoalkaloids, which can result in increased culls that hurt profitability and have caused trade issues recently. Currently, little is known about what makes a particular cultivar resistant or susceptible to greening or spikes in glycoalkaloids. This lack of knowledge makes it difficult to develop new cultivars with increased resistance. Scientists in Prosser, WA with ARS and Washington State University examined changes in gene expression and metabolites in potatoes before and after exposure to light and found that not all cultivars respond the same way to light. These findings provide insights into mechanisms that control greening and glycoalkaloids amounts in potato and can help in the development of potatoes with greater resistance

Technical Abstract: Light-induced accumulation of steroidal glycoalkaloids (SGAs) and concurrent greening of tubers is a major problem, which some have estimated can cause up to 15% - 17% of the crop to be culled. Factors that determine how a given genotype responds to environmental signals that cause greening or increases in SGAs are not fully understood. Transcriptomic and metabolomic approaches were applied to monitor levels of SGA, chlorophyll (CHL), and carotenoid (CAR), and 35 target genes (SGA and CHL associated genes) in potatoes exposed to light. Network analysis was used to look at relationships between metabolites and gene expression. Not all genotypes responded the same way to light, with some more resistant to greening or lightinduced SGA increases. In some cases, little or no increase in SGAs was observed in potatoes that had greened. An inverse relationship was observed between increases in CARs and SGAs in response to light. These findings provide insights into mechanisms that control levels of SGA and suggest potato breeding programs may benefit from evaluating the spiking potential of breeding lines