Influence of Incorporated Wild <i>Solanum</i> Genomes on Potato Properties in Terms of Starch Nanostructure and Glycoalkaloid Content

Abstract

Interspecific somatic hybrids produced by protoplast fusion between two wild Solanum species (S. acaule, acl; S. brevidens, brd) and cultivated potato Solanum tuberosum (tbr) were analyzed in terms of the starch nanometer-range structure and glycoalkaloid (GA) contents. The crystallinity of starch granules, the average size of starch crystallites, and the lamellar distances were obtained from tuber samples using wide-angle and small-angle X-ray scattering methods. These measurements showed that incorporation of wild genomes from either nontuberous (brd) or tuberous (acl) Solanum species caused no significant modifications of the nanostructure of potato starch. In contrast, the GA profiles of the hybrids, which were analyzed by LC-ESI-MS in both tuber and foliage samples, differed considerably from those of cultivated potato. Regardless of the low total tuber GA concentrations (approximately 9 mg/100 g of fresh weight), the somatic hybrids contained GAs not detected in the parental species. A high proportion of spirotype GAs consisting of 5,6-dihydrogenated aglycons, for example, alpha-tomatine and tomatidine bound with solatriose, and chacotriose were found in the hybrids. In conclusion, the foliage of interspecific hybrids contained a higher variation in the structures of GAs than did the tubers.