09/25/07 Spud nutrition

Some USDA researchers have found some potato varieties that are pack with health promoting compounds called phytochemicals. Plant geneticist Roy Navarre and colleagues in Washington and Oregon have found 60 different kinds of phytochemicals and vitamins in the skins and flesh of 100 wild and commercially grown potatoes. NAVARRE "One class of compounds are called phenolics. There are thousands of different phenolic implants, it's a big group of compounds and potato has really a lot of these compounds and different phenolics have different properties, some are anti-oxidants, some have anti-cancer properties, just a huge range of different medical or health promoting properties" Navarre says their analysis of Red and Norkotah potatoes revealed the spuds' total phenolics content rivaled that of other vegetables. NAVARRE "Over a ten fold difference from one variety to another in how much phenolics they have and the highest phenolic potatoes that we found so far have substantially high phenolics than any of the vegetables that we personally checked out." Navarre says with this information farmers, distributors and potato breeders can explore consumer markets and develop new varieties based on dietary findings. Today's Idaho Ag News Bill Scott