Tubers of six commercially available potato cultivars were placed in bright light (140 p o l -' m-2), approximately equivalent to dull daylight, for a continuous period of up to seven days. The tubers were sampled at intervals, scored for degree of greening, freeze-dried and subsequently assessed for glycoalkaloid and chlorophyll content. There were significant differences between the cultivars in their rates of greening and increase in glycoalkaloid content. There was an apparent relationship between the two characters. Increases in the individual glycoalkaloids a-chaconine and a-solanine were also assessed. The results are discussed in terms of the implications for the potato industry.

No abstract

Water uptake into the grain is a critical aspect off malting quality. Contrasting environments have been used to examine the role of protein and cell wall components in water uptake. A model based on a threshold value for protein content, the ratio of B to C hordeins and the composition and solubility of β‐glucans has been formulated. Better malting performance is associated with lower levels of insoluble β‐glucans and higher levels of C‐Hordein.

No abstract

The use of liquid chromatography–atmospheric pressure chemical ionisation–mass spectrometry has been investigated as a potential method for both the identification and quantification of desulphoglucosinolates. The results indicate that this methodology is particularly useful as a rapid technique for the confirmation of the identity of desulphoglucosinolates and has, in full scan mode, limits of detection at least an order of magnitude lower than is normally achieved by conventional high pressure liquid chromatography with UV detection. It has been demonstrated that, using a per‐deuterated desulphoglucosinolate as an internal standard, quantification could be achieved, but for accurate analysis at low concentrations it would be necessary to produce independent calibration curves for each desulphoglucosinolate present in the sample. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.