Potatoes
with higher levels of beneficial carotenoids are the result of U.S. Department
of Agriculture (USDA) studies to improve one of America's most popular
vegetables.
Scientists
with USDA's Agricultural Research Service (ARS) bred yellow potatoes with
carotenoid levels that are two to three times higher than those of the popular
Yukon Gold yellow-fleshed potato variety.
ARS plant
geneticist Kathy Haynes and nutritionist Beverly Clevidence did the research at
the agency's Henry A. Wallace Beltsville Agricultural Research Center in
Beltsville, Md. Haynes works in the Genetic Improvement for Fruits and
Vegetables Laboratory (GIFVL) at the Beltsville center, and Clevidence works in
the center's Food Components and Health Laboratory. They published their
findings in the Journal of the American Society for Horticultural Science.