SOIL AND PLANT ANALYSIS (1+1)

POTATO

POTATO (Solanum tuberosum)

• Starch accounts for 65-80% of the dry weight of the tuber.
• The important sugars are glucose, fructose and sucrose.
• The N content varies from 1.2 to 2.0 per cent on dry weight basis.
• Of the total N, less than half is present as protein.
• 35-60% of N consists of free amino acids, oxides and nitrogenous bases.
• The principal protein of potato is a globulin fractionated into two fractions, tuberin and globulin II.
• The enzymes are phosphorylases, α and β amylases and phosphatases.
• Potatoes are good source for vitamin A and C. Riboflavin, thiamine and nicotinic acid are also present.
• The average fat content of the potato tuber is 0.1% in fresh weight basis.
• Citric and malic acids are the important organic acids present in potato.
• Solanine is the term applied to steroidal glycoalkaloid of potatoes.