Abstract
The potato ( Solanum tuberosum L.) is important as both a food and a source of economic activity in Peru. However, potato production is limited by seed quality and other biotic and abiotic factors. We explore a new alternative method for producing prebasic seeds of Peruvian potato varieties known as temporary immersion bioreactors (BIT). The process of producing potato microtubers using BIT consists of two phases: proliferation and microtuberization. During the proliferation phase, we seeded six nodal segments of three nodes in a liquid culture medium with 30 g of sucrose under a photoperiod of 16 light hours and eight dark hours. This phase also included an irrigation cycle of five minutes every three hours for 30 days. During the microtuberization phase, the conditions were changed to a medium with 80 g of sucrose in darkness, and the same irrigation cycle was used for 60 days. Under these conditions we obtained 20, 18.4, 13.4, 13.4, and 4.6 microtubers of the varieties Peruanita, Canchan, Capiro, Unica, and Yungay, respectively.
Highlights
Potatoes are the world’s most important food crop after wheat and rice and are a staple food for 1.3 billion people, with increasing popularity in the developing world. (Stokstad, 2019).In Peru, growers cultivate four potato species: Solanum tuberosum along with three other species exclusive to the Andes
After harvesting the microtubers we evaluated the number of microtubers obtained per experimental unit, the fresh weight of each microtuber, and the yield per experimental unit
The microtubers produced in the bioreactors would mostly be categorized as small to medium
Summary
In Peru, growers cultivate four potato species: Solanum tuberosum along with three other species exclusive to the Andes. Mountains and on the coast (Egúsquiza, 2014). Peru ranks 18th among main consumer countries, with an annual consumption of 78.4 kg per capita. Potato production has increased from 4,704,987 tons in 2004 to 7,704,987 tons in 2014 (FAOSTAT, 2015). Potato cultivation accounts for 25% of Peru’s agricultural gross domestic product and is grown in 19 of the country’s 24 departments. Certified seed only accounts for 0.2% (1,145 tons) of seed farmers use. Small producers continue to plant seed potatoes acquired through “informal seed systems” that often have a poor sanitary status, leading to significant yield reductions (Egúsquiza, 2014)
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