Potatoes contain so many cancer- and heart disease-fighting chemicals that they could rival broccoli, spinach and brussels sprouts for health benefits, according to scientists from a US research agency.
Agricultural Research Services plant geneticist Roy Navarre and colleagues in Washington State and Oregon examined the skins and flesh of 100 wild and commercially grown potatoes, and found 60 different kinds of health-promoting phytochemicals and vitamins, said the service.
The chemicals included the flavonoids subgroup, which could help to diminish cardiovascular disease, respiratory problems and certain cancers, said Navarre.
The team also found potatoes with high levels of vitamin C, folic acid, quercetin and kukoamines - which could lower blood pressure, and have only ever been identified in one other plant, Lycium chinense.
Previous investigations into the levels of phytochemicals in potatoes have been limited to one or two varieties, but Navarre’s team was able to expand the search by using a new method that uses ‘high-throughput liquid chromatography and mass spectrometry’.
Growers will one day be able to make use of the method to investigate new consumer markets, or even develop new varieties based on the dietary findings of nutritional science.
