Stability and Broad-Sense Heritability of Mineral Content in Potato: Iron

Iron deficiency in humans occurs in all regions of the world. Potatoes are a modest source of iron. The purpose of this study was to determine if genetic variation for potato tuber iron content exists. Iron content in unpeeled potato was measured in 33 clones, including varieties and advanced breeding selections, in three trials (Tri-State, Western Regional Russet, Western Specialty/Red) which in total were grown in twelve environments. In two trials significant genotype × environment interaction occurred. Thirteen clones contributed significantly to this genotype × environment interaction, making them unstable across environments, including the variety Russet Burbank. Broad-sense heritabilities and their 95% confidence intervals (in parentheses) in the Tri-State, Western Regional Russet and Western Specialty/Red Trials were 0.00 (0.00, 0.38), 0.64 (0.17, 0.87), and 0.73 (0.25, 0.90), respectively. Overall the range of mean iron content on a clonal basis was 17 to 62 ug per gram dry weight. The upper limit is three times higher than generally reported values of potato. The five highest values were found in the Western Specialty/Red trial and were red-skinned, white-fleshed clones. These results suggest that genetic variation for tuber iron content exists and that breeding for enhanced iron content would be feasible.