The Potato Variety Management Institute, a nonprofit 501(c)(3) corporation launched by the state potato commissions of Washington, Oregon and Idaho in 2005, announces the release of two new varieties: Huckleberry Gold, a purple-skinned specialty variety, and Teton Russet, a dual-purpose russet.
Huckleberry Gold
Huckleberry Gold is a new specialty potato variety with purple skin and yellow flesh released by the breeding program in Aberdeen, Idaho, in collaboration with Oregon State University, Washington State University and the USDA-ARS. It resulted from a cross between Agria and COA94019-5R and has been evaluated for over seven years. It has medium-early maturity and medium yield potential.
Huckleberry Gold is noted for its excellent culinary qualities and high level of antioxidants. Average total yields for Huckleberry Gold were higher than those for Yukon Gold in Idaho, Oregon and Washington, while U.S. No. 1 yields were lower than Yukon Gold in Idaho but higher in Oregon and Washington. Fresh-pack characteristics including evaluations for boiling, baking and microwave characteristics were comparable or better to those for Yukon Gold. Huckleberry Gold has moderately low specific gravity and good resistance to tuber malformations and most internal and external defects. Huckleberry Gold tubers are similar to Yukon Gold in reducing sugar and protein concentrations.
Huckleberry Gold produces round to oval tubers with purple skin and yellow flesh with eyes that are intermediate in depth and number. The eyes are apically dominant. In general, tuber set is low, and tuber size is medium. It produced lower average total and U.S. No. 1 yields than Yukon Gold in early harvest trials in Idaho and Washington but higher yields in Oregon. Huckleberry Gold also produced a larger proportion of 0-6-oz tuber than Yukon Gold but a smaller proportion of greater than 10-oz tubers.
Compared to Yukon Gold, Huckleberry Gold is slightly less susceptible to common scab and Verticillium wilt, but slightly more susceptible to tuber early blight and soft rot and more susceptible to foliar infections of PLRV.
Huckleberry Gold holds promise as a medium-early fresh specialty variety high in antioxidants.
Teton Russet
Teton Russet is a new dual-purpose potato variety released by the breeding program in Aberdeen, Idaho, in collaboration with Oregon State University, Washington State University and the USDA-ARS. It resulted from a cross between Blazer Russet and Classic Russet and has been evaluated for over nine years. It has early maturity similar to Russet Norkotah and produces good yields of attractive oblong "type" tubers with brown-russeted skin.
Teton Russet is notable for its resistances to Fusarium dry rot and common scab and has higher protein and vitamin C content than those of most standard varieties. Teton Russet has moderate specific gravity and resistances to sugar ends and most internal and external defects.
Teton Russet also has excellent culinary qualities that are comparable to Russet Burbank-the industry standard for culinary quality. It shows excellent potential for the early fresh market, which is currently dominated by Russet Norkotah. However, unlike Russet Norkotah, industry evaluations of processing quality for Teton Russet show that it has excellent potential for producing premium quality fries. In addition, laboratory analyses by industry and university researchers have confirmed that Teton Russet has relatively low concentrations of asparagine, indicating a reduced acrylamide-forming potential. As a result, Teton Russet has excellent potential as a dual-purpose, early-russet variety, having outstanding fresh-market and processing characteristics.
In early-harvest trials conducted in western Idaho, average total yields for Teton Russet were higher than Russet Norkotah and Ranger Russet, while U.S. No. 1 yields were higher than Ranger Russet but lower than Russet Norkotah. In early-market trials in Oregon, Teton Russet produced substantially greater total and U.S. No. 1 yields than either Ranger Russet or Russet Norkotah, but in Washington, early yields were lower than Russet Norkotah.
Specific gravity and percent solids for Teton Russet grown in Idaho, Oregon and Washington were lower than Ranger Russet, similar to Russet Burbank and higher than Russet Norkotah. Teton Russet produced slightly darker-colored fries out of 45 degrees F storage than Ranger Russet but lighter-colored fries than Russet Burbank and Russet Norkotah. Teton Russet should be stored at 47 degrees F for optimal processing quality. Storage Characteristics of Teton Russet were tested in the Kimberly Potato Storage Variety Trial and indicate that dormancy length in Teton Russet is approximately 30-40 days shorter than Russet Burbank, depending upon storage temperature.
Teton Russet is generally less susceptible to growth cracks and second growth than Russet Burbank, but has similar susceptibility to shatter bruise, blackspot bruise and hollow heart. It is more resistant to common scab, dry rot, PVX, PLRV, PLRV net necrosis, corky ringspot and tuber infections from late blight than Russet Burbank, while its susceptibility to other diseases is similar to Russet Burbank. Compared to Russet Norkotah, Teton Russet is more resistant to common scab, PVX, PLRV, PLRV net necrosis, corky ringspot and tuber late blight infections but is slightly more susceptible to foliar early blight infections. It is susceptible to PVY"O", but unlike Russet Norkotah, it does express visible symptoms of PVY infection.
Teton Russet holds promise as both an early and late russet with fresh and processing potential.
For more information regarding finding seed or acquiring a license to grow seed, contact PVMI at (541) 318-1485 or jeannedebons@msn.com. For additional information about Huckleberry Gold, Teton Russet and other Tri-State varieties, visit www.pvmi.org.