Abstract
To study the effect of photoperiodic conditions on the chemical composition of potato tubers, seven cultivars, grown under controlled conditions, were evaluated for the content of free amino acids (FAA) and sugars. The differences in these compounds may have an effect on the susceptibility of acrylamide formation during potato processing as well as on the flavor profile of potato products. Tubers were produced in growth chambers under two artificially induced photoperiods; 8 h light and 15 h light per day, resulting in conditions with two different daily light integral (DLI) levels. The photoperiodic treatments influenced the total FAA and free sugar contents and composition. Of the analyzed 19 FAAs, the concentrations of 14 FAAs were significantly lower in tubers exposed to the 15 h light period compared to 8 h light, whereas the glucose content was significantly higher. The total FAA concentrations were 15–46% lower and the glucose concentrations 6–64% higher in the seven cultivars exposed to the 15 h light conditions than in those grown in 8 h light.
Highlights
The potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) is cultivated all over the globe, including in high latitude zones, such as northern parts of Europe, Asia and America
The glucose concentration ranged from 722 to 1141 mg 100 g-1 (FW) in short day (SD) and from 1019 to 1412 mg 100 g -1 (FW) in long day (LD) tubers. Those tubers exposed to longer light period (LD) had, depending on the cultivar, 6–64% higher glucose concentrations than those tubers grown in SD
Our results showed that compared to LD tubers, SD tubers had a higher amount of umami amino acid glutamic acid and the aroma precursor methionine, which are considered to affect potato flavor positively, SD tubers had higher level of the bitter free amino acids (FAA) arginine, valine and isoleucine, and a lower level of aspartic acid, which is an umami amino acid (Kirimura et al 1969)
Summary
The potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) is cultivated all over the globe, including in high latitude zones, such as northern parts of Europe, Asia and America. In SD plants, special developmental responses require or are promoted by long nights Potato tuberization is promoted by long nights, in other words SD photoperiods, and favored by moderate growing temperatures (optimum 15–20 °C), humid climatic conditions and low rates of nitrogen fertilization (Ewing and Wareing 1978, Krauss 1985, Abelenda et al 2014, Rosen et al 2018). Potato varieties cultivated in Europe and North America (Solanum tuberosum spp. tuberosum) are derived from Chilean landraces. Because of plant breeding, the formation of tubers by these modern commercially grown potato genotypes can be relatively neutral to the photoperiod (Ewing and Wareing 1978, Abelenda et al 2014). The photoperiod, interacting with light intensity and quality as well as temperature, may substantially affect the biosynthesis and partitioning of primary and secondary metabolites in potato plants, as shown, for example, for starch and phenolic compounds (Stutte et al 1996, Rubio-Covarrubias et al 2006)
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