Gabriela Burgos

• PhD
• Chief of the Quality and Nutrition laboratory at International Potato Center

Highlights What are the main findings? Foliar Zn applications are highly effective in biofortified potato clones compared with non-biofortified varieties. Foliar Zn applications do not affect the high iron content in potato tubers. What is the implication of the main finding? Biofortification offers a practical and cost-effective approach to addres...

In sweet potato and potato, sensory traits are critical for acceptance by consumers, growers, and traders, hence underpinning the success or failure of a new cultivar. A quick analytical method for the sensory traits could expedite the selection process in breeding programs. In this paper, the relationship between sensory panel and instrumental col...

Background: Zinc biofortified potatoes have considerable potential to reduce zinc deficiency due to their low levels of phytate, an inhibitor of zinc absorption, and their high consumption, especially in the Andean region Peru. Objective: The purpose of this study was to measure fractional and total zinc absorption from a test meal of biofortifi...

Simple Summary Almost 2 billion people worldwide, especially in developing countries, are suffer due to micronutrient deficiencies, sometimes known as “hidden hunger”. In Ethiopia, diet-related iron and zinc deficiency is a significant public health issue. The potato has the potential to be a significant iron and zinc source. A total of 45 potato g...

Background: Yellow fleshed potatoes biofortified with iron have been developed through conventional breeding but the bioavailability of the iron is unknown. Objectives: Our objective was to measure iron absorption from an iron-biofortified yellow fleshed potato clone in comparison with a non-biofortified yellow fleshed potato variety. Methods:...

The effect of environment and peeling in the glycoalkaloid concentration of late blight-resistant and heat-tolerant potato clones was determined by ultraperformance liquid chromatography (UPLC). Significant variation due to clone, environment and clone x environment (G x E) interaction was found. Total glycoalkaloids (TGA) concentration in raw unpe...

Potato is the most important crop in Peru and late blight is the main disease affecting the crop. However, new varieties that are resistant to late blight often lack other traits that farmers and consumers prefer. Using participatory varietal selection, this study seeks to identify clones with high potential to become varieties with resistance to l...

The effect of growing location on the iron concentration of potato and sweetpotato as determined by ICP-MS was evaluated using freeze dried and milled samples from peeled raw potato tubers and sweetpotato roots. Significant variation of the iron concentrations due to genotype (clone or variety), location and genotype x location interaction was foun...

Background Sweetpotato and potato are fast-maturing staple crops and widely consumed in low- and middle-income countries. Conventional breeding to biofortify these crops with iron could improve iron intakes. To our knowledge, iron absorption from sweetpotato and potato has not been assessed. Objective The aim was to assess iron absorption from regu...

A main breeding target of the International Potato Center (CIP) has been the biofortification of potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) with the essential micronutrients iron and zinc. This study assessed the broad‐sense heritability (H²) and genetic gains (ΔGs) achieved for iron and zinc concentrations in potato tubers and their relationships with yield co...

Key message β-Carotene content in sweetpotato is associated with the Orange and phytoene synthase genes; due to physical linkage of phytoene synthase with sucrose synthase, β-carotene and starch content are negatively correlated. Abstract In populations depending on sweetpotato for food security, starch is an important source of calories, while β-...

Potato has contributed to human diet for thousands of years, first in the Andes of South America and then in the rest of the world. Its contribution to the human diet is affected by cooking, potato intake levels, and the bioavailability of potato nutrients. Generally, the key nutrients found in potatoes including minerals, proteins, and dietary fib...

Potato is the backbone of agriculture and diets in high-altitude food systems of Peru, where farmers grow diverse varietal portfolios. Here we report on the role of diverse landraces and modern potato varieties in the Andean diet. The dry matter, energy, protein, iron and zinc content of 12 floury and 9 bitter landraces was determined. The contribu...

Micronutrient deficiencies in diets, including iron (Fe) and zinc (Zn), are an important public health problem across population in Ethiopia. Potato is a modest source of dietary nutrients. The purpose of this study was to assess the mineral (Fe & Zn) composition of potato germplasm in Ethiopia and grower’s willingness to try new potato types. The...

Breeding efforts to develop high iron and zinc potatoes require a fast and inexpensive technique to evaluate mineral concentrations in large numbers of samples. In this study, we evaluated the feasibility of applying X-ray fluorescence spectrometry to estimate iron and zinc in freeze-dried and milled potato tuber samples. The calibration, and the e...

High temperatures affect potato production in the tropics, putting tuber yield and quality at risk and leading to increased glycoalkaloid concentration the cause of the bitter taste in potatoes and a cause for concern for human health. The International Potato Center (CIP), has developed new heat tolerant clones which are heat tolerant and also res...

A dynamic human gastrointestinal (GI) model was used to digest cooked tubers from purple-fleshed Amachi and Leona potato cultivars to study anthocyanin biotransformation in the stomach, small intestine and colonic vessels. Colonic Caco-2 cancer cells and non-tumorigenic colonic CCD-112CoN cells were tested for cytotoxicity and cell viability after...

Research to evaluate the potential of sweet potato to alleviate iron deficiency in affected human populations in developing countries is scarce. To partly fill this gap, we evaluated the bioaccessibility of iron in six sweet potato clones grown in two Peruvian environments, Satipo and San Ramon, following an in vitro gastro-intestinal digestion pro...

The bioaccessibility and bioavailability of iron from twelve Andean potato clones were estimated using an in vitro gastro-intestinal digestion procedure and the Caco-2 cell line as a model of human intestine, with ferritin formation as a marker of iron absorption. We first showed that 63.7 % (for the genotype "CIP_311422.016") to 79.0 % (for the ge...

Fe and Zn concentrations and selected diploid Andean landrace accessions were evaluated by farmers and researchers in Ethiopia in 2013 to gain their appreciation of tuber yield and consumption traits. Farmers identified five important attributes for evaluating new varieties. In ranking of potato tuber characteristics, women placed a higher value on...

Yellow fleshed potatoes contain significant amounts of lutein and zeaxanthin but the bioaccessibility of potato carotenoids has not yet been investigated. The purpose of this study was to estimate the in vitro bioaccessibility of carotenoids provided by potato. Lutein and zeaxanthin concentrations of boiled, freeze dried and milled samples of seven...

The effect of boiling on concentrations of total phenolics (TP), total anthocyanins (TA) and phenolic acids (PA) and on antioxidant activity (AA) of purple-fleshed potatoes belonging to (Solanum andigenum) was determined in four native Andean accessions. Extraction methods for each parameter were optimized for raw and boiled freeze dried samples. T...

The ascorbic acid (AA) concentration of tubers was determined in 25 Andean potato varieties (Solanum tuberosum L.) grown in three environments, and the effect of cooking and storage time in subsets of samples was evaluated. Significant variation due to genotype, environment and genotype × environment (G × E) interaction was found. AA concentration...

Total and individual carotenoid concentrations were determined by spectrophotometry and HPLC, in raw tubers of a sample of 23 accessions of Solanum phureja potatoes taken at random from the world germplasm collection following its stratification on tuber flesh color. Lutein, zeaxanthin, violaxanthin, antheraxanthin and b-carotene were detected in a...

Variables and interaction effects affecting the mineral concentration of Andean bitter potatoes converted into so-called white chuño are unknown. We report on the effect of three contrasting production environments (E) on the dry matter (DM), zinc, iron, calcium, potassium, magnesium, phosphorus and sodium concentration of four potato native bitter...

The effect of boiling on the concentrations of total and individual carotenoids was determined by spectrophotometry and HPLC, in a group of native Andean potato accessions with diverse intensities of yellow flesh colours. Changes in concentrations due to boiling varied significantly among accessions. Boiling significantly reduced the violaxanthin a...

The present study evaluated selected East African (EA) sweetpotato varieties for storage root dry matter and nutrient content and obtained information on the potential contributions of the varieties to alleviate vitamin A and mineral deficiencies. Roots obtained from 89 farmer (white- and orange-fleshed) varieties and one introduced variety ('Resis...

American yam bean (Pachyrhizus spp.), a storage root forming legume, is currently disseminated in five West and Central African countries to investigate its food production potential. The genetic base of yam bean germplasm under custody by the International Potato Center (CIP) was broadened by seed acquisition and interspecific hybridization. Multi...

Potato is a carbohydrate-rich, energy-providing food with little fat. It is also a source of high resistant starch that can be optimized depending on the preparation method.Potato has significant levels of vitamin C that are reduced after cooking to different extents depending on the variety and type of cooking. It is also a source of minerals, pot...

Traditional Processing of Black and White Chuño in the Peruvian Andes: Regional Variants and Effect on the Mineral Content of Native Potato Cultivars. Farmers in the high Andes of central to southern Peru and Bolivia typically freeze-dry potatoes to obtain chuño. Processing of so-called black chuño follows tending, treading, freezing, and drying. T...

Calibration equations to estimate total and individual carotenoid concentrations by near-infrared reflectance spectroscopy (NIRS) in Solanum phureja potato germplasm were developed, validated and applied to the characterization of 152 S. phureja germplasm accessions. The cross, external and independent validation of the calibrations indicate that t...

Samples from unprocessed and processed cooked tubers of the nine most abundant potato cultivars used to prepare the traditional freeze-dried food product, “chuño” in the central highlands of Peru were prepared and analyzed for their protein and mineral concentrations. The protein, iron, zinc and calcium concentration of cooked chuño of the nine cul...

Agricultural research in developing countries has increasingly focused on meeting nutritional objectives. Biofortified varieties and increased use of fertilizers have been studied to improve the nutrient profile of staple foods and thereby reduce micronutrient malnutrition. To understand where and for which crops this is appropriate, a better under...

The potato in its Andean center of origin is commonly freeze-dried to assure long-term storability and consequent availability of food during periods of scarcity. The final product is known as chuño. Depending on the process and cultivars used, different kinds of chuño are prepared: white chuño (moraya, tunta) and black chuño. This paper explores t...

Hundreds of native heirloom varieties of potatoes of unknown origin are still utilized by subsistence farmers in the highlands of Peru, maintaining high levels of genetic diversity; yet these pockets of diversity paradoxically coincide with the highest levels of poverty and malnutrition. At the United Nations Millennium Summit in 2000, 189 member S...

The major subsistence food systems of the world that feed resource‐poor populations are identified and their capacity to supply essential nutrients in reasonable balance to the people dependent on them has been considered for some of these with a view to overcoming their nutrient limitations in sound agronomic and sustainable ways. The approach dis...

The determination of iron (Fe) and zinc (Zn) concentrations in 49 native Andean potato varieties revealed significant genotypic variation. Comparison of mineral concentrations of 37 of these germplasm accessions grown in two highland locations further revealed significant variation due to environments and genotype × environment interaction. Concent...

In the interest of contributing to reduce micronutrient malnutrition, CIP and HarvestPlus are investigating prospects for potato biofortification. Higher concentrations of iron (Fe), zinc (Zn) and vitamin C (vit C) were found in native Andean cultivars and advanced breeding materials, than among the modern varieties assessed. Clones with up to 30.5...