Changes in Carotenoid Profile during Potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) Tuber Maturation

Potato tubers are an important agricultural crop containing carotenoids, an important group of secondary plant metabolites showing positive health benefits. This paper examines nine carotenoids at weekly intervals in three cultivars with different flesh color during the tuber maturation process, as analyzed by HPLC-DAD. Total carotenoids showed a bell-shaped distribution with maximum values in the middle of the tuber maturation process rather than in ready-to-harvest tubers. Xanthophylls (viola-, anthera-, neoxanthin and lutein) were the predominant carotenoid forms found in the cultivars. Red and purple-fleshed cultivars contained only a quarter of the total carotenoids of a commercial cultivar with yellow flesh. Weather conditions moderately influenced the carotenoids of the xanthophyll cycle. In red or purple-fleshed tubers no relationship was found between total carotenoids and total anthocyanidins.