Sprouting of Potatoes: Compositional Changes in Light and Dark

Abstract

The effect of sprouting in the light and dark on the contents of total nitrogen, nonprotein nitrogen, protein, total amino acids and minerals was assessed. Two varieties, Katahdin and Kennebec, and a clone, NY 61, were studied. I n all varieties, the sprouts were significantly (p < 0.01) higher than either cortex or pith tissues in total and nonprotein nitrogen. Protein and total amino acid content was highest in sprout tissue. Sprout tissue was also significantly (p < 0.01) higher in copper, zinc, magnesium, and phosphorus. I n the sprouts exposed to light the ratio of protein/nonprotein nitrogen was higher than those in the dark.

Effect of magnesium fertilization on glycoalkaloid formation in potato tubers

“…Tubers from plots receiving 40 lb/acre MgS04 discolored less and were lower in phenolic content and higher in crude lipid and phospholipid content than the controls. All levels of magnesium application (20, 40, and 100 lb/acre) resulted in firmer tubers containing more protein than controls (Klein et al, 1981(Klein et al, , 1982.…”

“…The amino acids alanine, leucine (Jadhav et al, 1973), glycine, serine (Nair et al, 1981), and arginine (Kaneko et al, 1976) have been reported to be incorporated into solanidine. Klein et al (1982) reported that magnesium fertilization increased levels of free amino acids and total amino acids. Alanine, arginine, glycine, leucine, and serine increased in the acid-hydrolyzable fraction with magnesium fertilization.…”

“…Magnesium fertilization has been reported to improve the yield of potato tubers. Tuber quality is also improved with increasing firmness and protein content and decreased phenolic content (Klein et al, 1981(Klein et al, ,1982. However, because magnesium fertilization may also increase glycoalkaloid content as an undesirable quality attribute, this aspect of magnesium fertilization should be investigated further.…”