Geographical Origin Characterization and Evaluation of Selected Quality Parameters of Potato Tubers

Consumers in Germany show an increasing interest in agricultural products that are associated with their region of origin. Therefore, on the side of producers, the increase in agricultural products registered as Geographical Indication (GI) products indicates a growing interest in this field. Considering the demand for GI products and an increasing number of agricultural products proposed as GI products, characterizing the geographical origin of the products is required to provide supplementary information to both the consumer and the producer, as well as protect them from fraud and the exploitation of the trust consumers have in their quality.

Potatoes, one of the GI commodities in Germany, are cultivated mostly in the northern, western and southern parts of the country. These three main potato-producing regions are characterized by different altitudes and are located in relatively different latitudinal coordinates. This leads to different environmental conditions, such as temperature and precipitation rates. These environmental conditions may influence the chemical composition and quality parameters of the potato tubers. Therefore, their geographical origin may be a relevant quality parameter. ACD, one of the important quality parameters, is influenced by the chemical composition of a tuber, of which organic acids and minerals are the most relevant to its determination.

Based on the background above, this study aims to characterize the geographical origin of potato tubers in Germany, particularly those from the northern, western and southern regions of the country; to evaluate the ACD of table potatoes cultivated in the three considered regions and to evaluate the contribution of selected tuber constituents to ACD.

The characterization of the geographical origin of the potato tubers was conducted with two discriminate parameters: stable isotope ratios and mineral compositions. Several cultivars were collected in 2010 and 2011 from the northern, western and southern regions. Their isotopic ratios and mineral compositions were analyzed.