The Wilmington morning star., 1941-02-10
White Potato May Gain Chem.
ical Status in U. S. That
It Had in Europe

In view of the fact that the white
potato is a substantial commercial
crop in both of the Carolinas and
therefore of interest to 7,rge mum.
bers of people, I am using an arti-
Gle published in Industrial Bulletin,
OF Arthur D. Little, Inc, Cam
bridge. Mass, January 1941 issue,
No. 165, and am also showing some
additional information ca ne d
from agricultural reports.
Growing public demand for uni,
formity of size of potatoes may
lead to the white potato having
the chemical status in tie United
States that it long had in Europe.
Even now many small and over
sized potatoes are consigned to
culls, and together with those dam
aged and diseased constitute a siz-
able supply for starch production.
The potato found it's ay to Eu-
rope over $50 years ago and there
became an important food crop.
Careful breeding gradually devel-
oped plump, bodybuilding white po-
tatoes from the small purplish one
with deep-set eyes that grew wild
in the hills of Chile and Peru. The
potato returned to America as the
cultivated form, under tie popular
name of the Irish" potato.
Much of the breeding of pota-
toes has been concerned with i'm
proving resistance to the plant dis
ease called the blight" or Late
blight" In Europe, the blights Of
1845 and 1870 resulted in virtual
destruction of the crops and star
walton for many. Breeders have
done much to develop resistance to
this fungus disease, but it still may
become widespread nd too
moist weather conditions, and con-
tinues as a problem. Weekly spray
ing is often employed to prevent
the rot that comes from the blight,
as well as against insect damage.
The principal use for potatoes
is as human food, and to a lesser
degree as stock feed. A recent
eastern canvass, to discover potato
habits and preferences, found that
over SO per cent Of all families eat
potatoes, and in amounts nearly in
dependent of economic status or
racial reculiarities Of diet. The
best-liked potatoes were those that
cook up white, dry, mealy and
with good texture and flavor. Most
people appeared to prefer the 2 to
2 - inch size or the 2 IL to 3
inch size for both boiling and bak-
ing. A western canvass might find
favor for somewhat larr-r sizes,
especially of the Idaho type. Po-
tatoes would perhaps be eaten even
more freely if the public but re-
allied their moderate calorlc value,
due to their high water content.
In Maine, and to some extent In
Minnesota, Gull potatoes are MADE
into starch, in twenty-seven FAC
tories. Using recently m~odernized
machinery that RECEIVERS 70 per
cent of the total available, almost
pure starch is produced, some OF
which is as fine in quality as the
best Of that until recently imported
from Holland and Germany. In
former times, when one mentioned
starch" potato starch was mean
Corn starch has replaced potato
starch. as. the preponderant starch
used lin America ant' a number
of other types have been devel-
,oped. There is even a CONNER
cial sweet : potato starch develop
ment now in this country. For a
number of uses, however, white
potato starch still sell at a pre-
MUM. 1t has large grains, makes
excellent pastes. and hot and cold
water Clues. Much of it is con-
yerted into dextrin. 1t makes pre-
ferred thickener for salad dress