Potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) is a worldwide food staple, but substantial waste accompanies its cultivation due to wounding of the outer skin and subsequent unfavorable healing conditions. Motivated by both economic and nutritional considerations, this metabolite profiling study aims to improve understanding of wound periderm formation and guide the development of new methods to ensure robust wound healing. In the current investigation, polar and nonpolar extracts of wound periderm tissues from four potato cultivars with contrasting russeting patterns (Atlantic, Chipeta, Norkotah Russet, and Yukon Gold) were profiled at day-3 and day-7 stages of wound-induced periderm development. The materials were assessed using LC-MS, TOF-MS, GC-MS and NMR spectroscopic methods. Multivariate analyses revealed that distinctions among the cultivars' metabolite profiles were less pronounced at day 7 compared to day 3 post wounding. Two groups of biomarkers, those that discriminate among the cultivars at a given wound healing stage and those that distinguish the two healing stages, were provisionally identified based on mass and retention parameters. The biomarkers included polyphenolic amines, flavonoid glycosides, phenolic acids, glycoalkaloids, fatty acids, fatty alcohols, hydrocarbons and glycerol esters. Analysis of the non-polar extracts showed that a,?-dicarboxylic fatty acids and glycerol esters are markers for the day 7 stage in all cultivars. However, the majority of the a,?-dicarboxylic fatty acids are markers for Atlantic and the glycerol esters are characteristic of Chipeta. In the polar extracts, polyphenolic amines are markers at day 3 for the russeted Norkotah Russet and Atlantic cultivars, whereas this marker class appears only at later stages for the smoother Yukon Gold and Chipeta varieties. Phenolic acids, flavonoid glycosides, and glycoalkaloids are markers for the day 7 stage in all cultivars. The reported antioxidant, antimicrobial and insecticidal properties of these compounds can offer protection during the establishment of the potato wound periderm.

Investigating the defensive armor of potatoes: Metabolites in wound periderm of four potato cultivars

248th National Meeting (2014)

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