Polyphenols

If you are living in Michigan or nearby, Purple potato chips could be on shelves at a grocery store near you this holiday season, thanks to a collaboration between Michigan State University researchers and Traverse City-based Great Lakes Potato Chip Co.

Purple potatoes are the eye-catching gems of the potato aisle. Like other members of the potato family (Solanum tuberosum), they come from a tuber plant native to the Andes mountain region in South America.

Can the nutritional value of potatoes be improved? That is the question USDA research geneticist Kathy Haynes has been asking for nearly 30 years. Her quest for the answer has led her to breeding a more nutritious potato, similar to the papa criolla types found in South America.

A new potato variety that’s genetically modified to withstand bruising has been cleared for commercialization without undergoing USDA’s deregulatory process for biotech crops.

Just in time for the back to school season, here is your A to Z guide on potato nutrition, brought to you by the United States Potato Board.

Researchers of Penn State University discovered that compounds found in purple potatoes may help kill colon cancer stem cells and limit the spread of the cancer.

You say potato. I say Colorado. When First Lady Michelle Obama and a passel of schoolchildren recently planted vegetables in the White House kitchen garden, three of five potato varieties plunked into the soil were developed by Colorado State University.