A stressed strain of Swedish spud

Press, 12 January 1987, Page 30

A stressed strain of Swedish spud

NZPA-Reuter Stockholm A Swedish potato has been withdrawn from the market because the stress of growing may have caused it to develop a mysteriously high content of natural poisons, a Government food official said. One theory which analysts are working on is that the easily-stressed Magnum Bonum potato has had too much sun, causing high levels of the substances solanin and chaconin, said Ms Ulla Hagman, a nutritionist at the National Food Administration.

“The potato is very sensitive to stress. We think the Magnum Bonum crop may have been subjected to too much sunlight, be-

cause heavy summer rains washed away topsoil to leave the potatoes exposed,” she told Reuters.

Solanin and chaconin occur in all potatoes and other vegetables but excessive amounts can cause giddiness and diarrhoea, scientists say. The Magnum Bonum is Sweden’s third-best-selling potato and accounts for about three per cent of the market in a country where potatoes were for centuries the principal foodstuff.

Food administration officials say this year’s crop, estimated to be in the region of 30,000 tonnes, will be used for producing starch and industrial spirit if the food ban continues.