Extensive Variation in Fried Chip Color and Tuber Composition in Cold-stored Tubers of Wild Potato (solanum) Germplasm

Cold-induced sweetening and browning in the Maillard reaction have driven extensive research in the areas of plant physiology, biochemistry, and food science in Solanum tuberosum because of its importance to the potato-processing industry. Prior research has not characterized wild Solanum relatives of potato for tuber composition and has not determined if relationships between tuber composition and chip color after cold storage in wild species are comparable to those found for cultivated potato. Extensive inter- and intraspecific variation for chip color and tuber composition were found in the wild Solanum species examined. Tuber sugar profiles suggested that invertase activity at low temperatures differed between and within species. Tuber fructose, glucose, and sucrose concentrations partially explained chip color variation in most accessions, but asparagine concentration and percent dry matter did not. Most wild species had reducing sugar concentrations and chip color scores after 2 degrees C storage that were less than those in S. tuberosum cultivar Snowden. Sugar profiles and relationships between specific sugars and chip color in Solanum pinnatisectum were unique among the species examined.