Some Andean communities use a processing technique to remove the glycoalkaloids, but it also removes proteins and vitamins as well. ARS scientists manipulated the potato's own genes to help block formation of a key glycoalkaloid. In experiments using potato plants with the rebuilt genes, they reduced glycoalkaloid levels up to about 40 percent in preliminary field tests and up to 60 percent in greenhouse tests. Efforts will continue to further reduce the levels. Calif. American potato growers and breeders should also benefit from this biotechnology research.
Some Andean spuds are primitive but are frost-tolerant.
After learning about the research, the International Potato Center in La Molina, Peru, contacted Belknap to arrange to test the new genes there. The research complies with Peru's biosafety regulations and is closely monitored by the Peruvian Ministry of Agriculture. International Potato Center molecular biologist Carmen M. Herrera Gutierrez recently completed a 5-week stint with the ARS scientific team in Albany.