Influence of flesh colour, year and growing area on carotenoid and anthocyanin content in potato tubers

• Carotenoid and anthocyanin content is influenced by cultivar and growing location.
• Carotenoid content is influenced by year of growing.
• Some anthocyanin rich cultivars contain high carotenoid levels.
• Some varieties of coloured potatoes are relatively high in β-carotene level.
• S. phureja tubers contain a markedly higher level of carotenoids than S. tuberosum.

The objective of this two-year study was to determine the main carotenoids in 15 varieties of potatoes (Solanum tuberosum L.) with different flesh colour – white, yellow, red and purple and two varieties of Solanum phureja. Content of total anthocyanins in pigmented potatoes was also determined and compared with the carotenoid level. Potatoes were cultivated in two localities with different soil-climatic conditions. Content of carotenoids and anthocyanins was affected by variety and locality. Moreover, carotenoid content was influenced by the growing year. Content of total carotenoids ranged from 0.779 to 13.3 mg/kg dry matter (DM). The main carotenoid was lutein in all varieties (54–93%) furthermore violaxanthin, neoxanthin, zeaxanthin and β-carotene were identified in most of the analysed samples. The highest carotenoid content was found in S. phureja varieties. The pigmented varieties Blaue Anneliese, Violetta, Olivia (all purple) and H.B. Red (red) showed comparable carotenoid level with the yellow-fleshed variety Agria; other pigmented varieties contained similar carotenoid levels as white-fleshed varieties. Content of total anthocyanins ranged from 210 to 2419 mg/kg DM and correspond to flesh colour intensity. A weak correlation between carotenoids and anthocyanins was found (r2 = 0.33). Thus some coloured varieties could be a good source of both studied phytochemicals.