IMPROVING THE SAFETY AND POST-HARVEST QUALITY OF POTATOES BY REDUCING THE TOXIC GLYCOALKALOIDS

Potato is the world's 3rd-largest food crop and the leading vegetable crop in the United States, with annual per capita consumption of about 120 pounds (NPC 2009). The US Potato Board, through the National Eating Trends Report (2010), revealed that over the past ten years, though the consumption of traditional potatoes declined, specialty/colored potato consumption increased by 17%, possibly due to their putative health benefits. Colored potatoes are rich in anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory bioactive plant compounds. However, potatoes also contain glycoalkaloids (GA), which serve a protective function in plants but are toxic to humans and can be toxic when consumed in high amounts. Though the commercial potato varieties cultivated in the US contain less than the stipulated safe limit of 20 mg GA/100 g potato (≤ 10 mg GA/100 g in Europe), certain post-harvest storage and processing methods tend to increase the GA content well above the regulated safe limit. Thus, it is important to determine the effect of GA individually and together with acrylamide, a reproductive toxin formed during processing, on male reproductive hormones. White and purple fleshed potato clones (five each) subjected to different storage temperatures and baking temperatures will be assessed for toxins (GA) and health benefiting bioactive compounds (phenolic acids and anthocyanins) to identify an appropriate storage-cum-processing strategy to minimize toxicants and retain bioactive compounds. Samples from pig study conducted as part of USDA NRI-funded project will be used to understand the effect on male reproductive hormones. Research findings will be communicated through a variety of mechanisms that results in greater technology and knowledge transfer to stakeholders including potato consumers, producers and processors.