STABILITY ANALYSIS IN POTATO (SOLANUM TUBEROSUM L.)

Abstract

Potato is one of the most productive crops, which can be cooked in many ways and processed into a number of food products. Recently, a large number of companies have stepped into the field of potato processing which demand varieties of potato with more tuber dry matter (>20%) and low reducing sugars (< 0.25%) and phenols. The present investigation was aimed at identifying the suitable varieties of potato for processing in the plains of Punjab. In this study, 12 cultivars of potato including cvs. Kufri Chipsona –1 and Kufri Chipsona-2 were evaluated for their yield potential and processing attributes. viz., dry matter content (%), reducing sugars (mg/100g dry weight basis) and total phenols (mg/100g dry weight basis). These cultivars were planted at three dates viz., 25th Sept. 2003, 25th Oct. 2003 and 25th Nov. 2003 and harvested after 90 days of planting. The results of stability analysis inferred that cv. Kufri Badshah was not stable but surpassed all other cultivars in total and processable yield. However, it had low dry matter content (15.62%) and high reducing sugars (168.90mg) which are not desirable for processing. Nevertheless, it could be suitably exploited for table consumption. In contrast, cvs. Kufri Chipsona-1 and Kufri Chipsona-2 were found to possess about 20% dry matter content, low reducing sugars (54.15mg) and phenols (<43.50mg), but gave significantly lower total and processable tuber (>20g) yield than cvs. Kufri Badshah, Kufri Sutlej and Kufri Anand. The study also revealed that cvs. Kufri Ashoka, Kufri Bahar and Kufri Sutlej were found to be stable for total as well as processable tuber (>20g) yield as judged from their values of mean, regression coefficient and non-significant deviation from regression.