2017 ASHS Annual Conference

Papa criolla is a very flavorful, popular potato in South America that can be mashed, boiled, baked or fried and can be a viable option for the specialty potato market in the U.S. The objective of this project is to develop yellow- and orange-flesh diploid potatoes that will tuberize well under the long-day growing conditions in the U.S. A long-day adapted hybrid population from Solanum tuberosum Groups Phureja and Stenotomum of yellow- and orange- flesh diploid potatoes with high levels of lutein and zeaxanthin were selected by USDA. In the spring of 2015, 368 clones were evaluated in a single replication trial in Hastings, FL for tuber skin color, skin texture, tuber shape, eye depth, flesh color and overall appearance. After harvest, tubers were maintained in a 10 °C dark storage room and length of tuber dormancy was evaluated weekly. Tubers with irregular shape, deep eyes, rough skin texture and short dormancy were discarded. In 2016, 86 selected clones were planted in a replicated trial. Most of the clones showed great early vigor with upright vine types and mid to late maturity. Plants were vine killed 84 days after planting and mechanically harvested 14 days later. The dark-yellow-flesh clones BD1323-4 and BD1343-4; medium-yellow BD1318-4, BD1323-2, BD1323-4, BD1417-1, BD1427-5, and light yellow-flesh BD1402-3 and BD1428-1 had great marketable tuber characteristics such as round to oblong tuber shape, shallow eyes, overall good appearance and dormancy longer than 8 weeks. Future studies will be conduct to determine ideal seed-piece spacing and general management for these potatoes.