Search Results (574)

Potato is a globally important non-cereal crop in which infection with potato spindle tuber viroid (PSTVd) can cause stunted growth and significantly reduce tuber yield. We previously showed that PSTVd induces accumulation of the plant hormone jasmonic acid (JA) and alters antioxidant responses in potato plants. To clarify the role of JA in response to PSTVd, we analyzed disease development in transgenic JA-deficient opr3 and JA-insensitive coi1 lines compared to the wild-type. Transcriptomic analysis using RNA-Seq revealed that most genotype-specific differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in all comparisons were enriched in plant hormone signal transduction, plant-pathogen interaction, and MAPK signaling pathways, although the number of DEGs varied. These differences were confirmed by independent data from RT-qPCR, hormone, and hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) analyses. After PSTVd infection, opr3 plants showed enhanced JA signaling and increased abscisic acid (ABA) and auxin (AUX) content. In contrast, coi1 plants showed reduced ABA, AUX, and salicylic acid content. Both opr3 and coi1 plants showed reduced JA and H₂O₂ content and lower expression of defense-related genes, resulting in milder symptoms but increased viroid accumulation. In addition, treatment with methyl jasmonate alleviated symptoms in infected wild-type plants. Together, these results indicate a modulatory role for JA and JA signaling in basal immune responses and symptom development in the potato-PSTVd interaction. Full article

Tiger nut (Cyperus esculentus L.) is a relatively neglected tuber crop with notable nutritional, functional, and ecological value. The primary objective of this study was to evaluate the biological properties and selected nutritional parameters of tiger nut tubers and oil, including antioxidant activity, total phenolic content (TPC), fatty acid (FA) profile, health-related lipid indices, and mineral composition. Methods: Natural and peeled tiger nut tubers, as well as commercially available tiger nut oil (yellow variety, Valencia, Spain), were analyzed. Antioxidant activity was measured spectrophotometrically using the DPPH method. The content of TPC was determined using the Folin–Ciocalteu assay. Fatty acid composition was analyzed by gas chromatography coupled with flame ionization detection, and these data were used to calculate the PUFA/SFA (P/S) ratio, atherogenicity (AI), thrombogenicity (TI) index, and hypocholesterolemic/hypercholesterolemic (h/H) ratio. Macro- and microelement contents were quantified using inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry. Estimated daily intake (EDI), target hazard quotient (THQ), and total THQ (TTHQ) were calculated to assess potential health risks. Results: Natural tiger nut tubers exhibited substantially higher antioxidant activity and TPC compared to peeled tubers, suggesting that the peel is the primary reservoir of phenolic compounds. Strong antioxidant activity was observed in tiger nut oil (64.82 ± 2.59 mg TEAC/L). Oleic acid (C18:1cis n-9) was identified as the predominant FA across all samples, thus contributing positively to favorable health lipid indices (P/S > 0.50, low AI and TI, high h/H ratio). Potassium was the most abundant macroelement in natural and peeled tiger nut tubers. The overall trend of microelement levels in these samples was as follows: Al > Fe > Zn > Cu > Sr > Mn > Li > Ba > Se > As > Cr. All THQ and TTHQ values were below 1, indicating no appreciable health risk associated with consumption. Conclusions: These findings support the use of tiger nuts as a functionally valuable ingredient in health-oriented food products. Full article

This study aimed to determine the nutrient use efficiency of the yacon potato under NPK fertilization at different rates. The experiment followed a randomized block design with four replications and a split-plot arrangement. The main plots consisted of three fertilization levels (60%, 100%, and 140% of the reference dose—50:80:60 kg ha⁻¹ of NPK), with subplots to data collection intervals, performed every 30 days, for a total of 7 collections, generating 21 treatments. The dry biomass of whole plants and tuberous roots was determined. Samples were taken to determine the content of N, P, K, Ca, Mg, Cu, Fe, Mn, and Zn. The biological utilization coefficient (BUC) was calculated by dividing the mean values of dry biomass in kilograms of plant parts by the kilogram of nutrient found in that biomass. The application of 100% of the reference dose led to the highest use efficiency of P, K, Ca, and Mg, and intermediate efficiency for N in yacon tuberous roots and total biomass production throughout the cycle, provides a significant contribution to fertilization planning for this crop. The amount applied which was 100% of the reference dose was 17, 80, and 20 kg ha⁻¹ of N, P₂O₅, and K₂O, respectively, at planting, supplemented with 33 and 40 kg ha⁻¹ of N and K₂O as topdressing. Full article

Continuous potato monoculture leads to yield decline, soil degradation, and increased soil-borne disease incidence. This study evaluated the potential of crop rotation to mitigate these issues by examining its effects on potato performance, soil chemical properties, and soil microbial communities. A two-year field experiment (2023–2024) in southern Shanxi, China, compared three treatments: continuous potato planting (CK, control), potato rotated with summer maize (with maize straw incorporation, T1), and potato rotated with summer soybean (with soybean straw incorporation, T2). The results demonstrated that both T1 and T2 rotations significantly increased tuber yield by 18.39% and 20.69%, respectively, and improved the potato commodity rate by 19.67% and 10.39%, compared to CK. Rotations also enhanced tuber quality, significantly increasing the content of nitrogen (5.24–28.20%), phosphorus (14.68–34.86%), potassium (23.61–52.42%), crude protein (5.14–28.11%), vitamin C (6.67–20.0%), starch (20.0–28.82%), and dry matter (4.55–12.88%), while reducing sugar content. In addition, the soil quality markedly improved under rotation. The soil organic matter, available phosphorus, available potassium, and total nitrogen increased by 27.77–31.92%, 10.48–12.38%, 4.44–28.42%, and 3.98–16.13%, respectively. Proteobacteria, Actinobacteriota, Acidobacteriota, Chloroflex, Firmicutes, and Myxococcota were the predominant bacterial phyla and Ascomycota, Mortierellomycota, Basidiomycota, and Chytridiomycota were the predominant fungal phyla. Microbial community analysis revealed that T1 rotation affected the Chao1 index and the ACE, measures of the diversity of the soil fungal community, and the rotations altered community structure. The abundance of pathogenic fungi, including Fusarium, Alternaria, and Lectera, was significantly reduced. Redundancy analysis (RDA) revealed that pH and total nitrogen (TN) were the primary factors shaping soil bacterial and fungal community structure. In conclusion, rotating potato with summer maize or soybean, combined with straw incorporation, is an effective strategy for enhancing tuber yield and quality, improving soil fertility, suppressing soil-borne pathogens, and promoting sustainable potato production in southern Shanxi. Full article

Tuber crops cultivated in basalt-derived soils are influenced by naturally high geochemical backgrounds, which may elevate heavy metal(loid) levels and associated health risks. To clarify the geochemical controls governing metal accumulation, this study analyzed rock, soil, and tuber (sweet potato and yam) samples from the Qiongbei volcanic area of Hainan Island, China. Concentrations of eight heavy metal(loid)s (As, Cd, Cr, Cu, Hg, Ni, Pb, and Zn) and 22 nutrient-related indicators (N, P, K, SOC, S, Se, Fe, Mn, and their available fractions) were determined. Soil contamination and potential human health risks were evaluated using the pollution index and the health risk model. The results showed that 11.1–55.6% of soil samples exceeded pollution thresholds for Cr, Cu, Ni, and Zn, reflecting typical basaltic high-background characteristics. In contrast, heavy metal(loid) concentrations in tuber crops were relatively low and jointly regulated by parent material composition and soil nutrient status. Non-carcinogenic risks (HI) were below 1, indicating acceptable exposure levels, while carcinogenic risks were mainly associated with Cd, Cr, and Pb, with total carcinogenic risk (TCR) exceeding 1 × 10⁻⁴, suggesting potential health concerns. Strong correlations between soil nutrients (N, P, K, SOC, S, Se, Mn, and Fe) and plant uptake of As, Cd, Cu, and Cr indicate that nutrient availability plays a crucial role in controlling heavy metal(loid) bioavailability. The volcanic soils exhibited a “high total content–low bioavailability” pattern. Enhancing soil Se, SOC, available N, and slowly available K (SAK) can effectively reduce Cd and other high-risk metal accumulation in tuber crops. These findings elucidate the key geochemical processes influencing heavy metal transfer in volcanic agroecosystems and provide a scientific basis for safe agricultural utilization and health risk prevention in high-background regions. Full article

Continuous cropping (CC) poses serious challenges to the sustainable production of Dioscorea opposita Thunb. cv. Tiegun yam. The aim of this study is to illustrate the formation mechanisms of CC obstacles by analyzing rhizosphere soil from yam fields with 0 to 2 years of replanting. Metabolomic and microbiome sequences were used to assess variations in yam yield, underground tuber traits, soil properties, metabolite profiles, and microbial communities. The results show that CC significantly reduced tuber yield, shortened stalk length, and altered tuber morphology, leading to the accumulation of soil available phosphorus and potassium and a notable decrease in pH. A total of 38 differentially expressed metabolites, including organoheterocyclic compounds, lipids, and benzenoids, were identified and linked to pathways such as starch and sucrose metabolism, linoleic acid metabolism, and ABC transporters. Microbial alpha diversity increased with CC duration, and both bacterial and fungal community structures were notably reshaped. Metabolite profiles correlated more strongly with fungal than bacterial communities. Partial least squares path modeling revealed that CC years had a negative indirect impact on tuber yield and morphology (the path coefficient was −0.956), primarily through direct effects on soil properties (p < 0.01) and metabolites (p < 0.001), which, in turn, influenced microbial diversity. These findings emphasize the vital role of soil properties in reshaping the rhizosphere environment under CC and provide a theoretical basis for mitigating CC obstacles through rhizosphere regulation. Full article

Oca (Oxalis tuberosa Mol.) is an Andean crop with high nutritional and cultural value; however, its vegetative propagation makes it challenging to ensure a continuous supply of high-quality planting material. In this study, an efficient and reproducible in vitro propagation protocol was established for the oca genotype OT–001 (Amazonas, Peru), integrating shoot multiplication, rooting, and acclimatization. One-centimeter nodal segments were cultured in MS medium supplemented with 6-benzylaminopurine (BAP) or kinetin (KIN) at increasing concentrations ranging from 0.1 to 2.0 mg L⁻¹. For rooting, one-centimeter shoots were transferred to MS medium supplemented with indole-3-butyric acid (IBA) or 1-naphthaleneacetic acid (NAA) at increasing concentrations ranging from 0.1 to 2.0 mg L⁻¹. The variables evaluated four weeks after treatment initiation were regeneration percentage, rooting percentage, number of shoots per explant, number of roots per explant, number of nodes, and shoot length. The regeneration rate reached 100% with both BAP and KIN treatments; however, shoot proliferation was highest with 1.0 mg L⁻¹ BAP, producing an average of 7.4 shoots per explant compared to 2.3 shoots in the control. Meanwhile, KIN concentrations of 0.2–0.5 mg L⁻¹ promoted the development of longer shoots (up to 31.4 mm). In rooting, although the control achieved 93.3%, auxin supplementation improved root architecture. IBA at 0.1 mg L⁻¹ achieved 100% rooting with the longest roots (23.9 mm), while 2.0 mg L⁻¹ IBA maximized the number of roots (14.2 roots per explant). With NAA, the root systems were dense but shorter. The in vitro-regenerated plantlets exhibited 100% survival after 15 and 30 days of acclimatization in sterile agricultural soil, demonstrating the high quality of the plant material obtained. The protocol enables the production of homogeneous and vigorous plantlets throughout the year and provides a practical foundation for the ex situ conservation of oca germplasm and its commercial propagation. It also establishes the basis for advanced applications such as genetic transformation and gene editing. Full article

Potato (Solanum tuberosum) is an important crop globally, being a starchy, energy-dense food source rich in several micronutrients and bioactive compounds. Achieving food security for everyone is highly challenging in the context of growing populations and climate change. As a highly adaptable crop, potatoes can significantly contribute to food security for vulnerable populations and have outstanding commercial relevance. Specific pre- and post-harvest parameters influence potato quality. It is vital to understand how these factors interact to shape potato quality, minimizing post-harvest losses, ensuring consumer safety, and enhancing marketability. This review highlights how pre-harvest (cultivation approaches, agronomic conditions, biotic and abiotic stresses) and post-harvest factors impact tuber’s microbial stability, physiological behaviour, nutritional, functional attributes and frying quality. Quality parameters, such as moisture content, dry matter, starch, sugar, protein, antioxidants, and color, are typically measured using both traditional and modern assessment methods. However, advanced non-destructive techniques, such as imaging and spectroscopy, enable rapid, high-throughput quality inspection from the field to storage. This review integrates recent advancements and specific findings to identify factors that contribute to substantial quality degradation or enhancement, as well as current challenges. It also examines how pre- and post-harvest factors collectively impact potato quality. It proposes future directions for quality maintenance and enhancement across the field and storage, highlighting research gaps in the pre- and post-harvest linkage. Full article

Potato (Solanum tuberosum) is one of the world’s most important food crops, with tuber sink strength and starch deposition determining yield, quality, and processing performance. While starch is the dominant carbohydrate reserve, its accumulation is tightly linked with protein metabolism. Patatin, the major soluble storage protein, constitutes up to 40% of total tuber protein. In addition to serving as a nitrogen and carbon reserve, patatin exhibits lipid acyl hydrolase (phospholipase A₂-like) activity, suggesting roles in membrane remodeling and stress signaling. This dual identity places patatin at the intersection of storage, metabolic regulation, and defense. A structured review of studies published between 1980 and 2025 was developed using PubMed, Web of Science, Frontiers, and MDPI databases. Prioritized research included molecular, physiological, and multi-omics analyses of patatin expression, regulation, and function under optimal and stress conditions. Evidence indicates that patatin contributes to carbon–nitrogen balance and sink strength by affecting sucrose import, vacuolar osmotic capacity, and starch biosynthesis. Under drought, salinity, and pathogen stress, patatin transcript levels, protein stability, and enzymatic activity shift, leading to reduced starch deposition, altered sugar accumulation, osmoprotection, and reallocation toward defense responses. Despite these insights, major knowledge gaps remain. These include isoform-specific roles, integration into sugar–hormone regulatory networks, and field-scale responses under fluctuating environments. Future progress will require integrated multi-omics, fluxomics, and proximity-labeling approaches, combined with CRISPR-based isoform editing and promoter engineering. Targeting patatin as both a biomarker and an engineering node offers opportunities to develop climate-ready potato cultivars with improved starch yield, tuber quality, and stress resilience. Full article

Potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) is a key staple crop in the Peruvian Andes, but its productivity is threatened by fungal pathogens such as Rhizoctonia solani and Alternaria alternata. In this study, 71 native bacterial strains (39 from phyllosphere and 32 from rhizosphere) were isolated from potato plants across five agroecological zones of Peru and characterized for their plant growth-promoting (PGPR) and antagonistic traits. Actinomycetes demonstrated broader enzymatic profiles, with 2ACPP4 and 2ACPP8 showing high proteolytic (68.4%, 63.4%), lipolytic (59.5%, 60.6%), chitinolytic (32.7%, 35.5%) and amylolytic activity (76.3%, 71.5%). Strain 5ACPP5 (Streptomyces decoyicus) produced 42.8% chitinase and solubilized both dicalcium (120.6%) and tricalcium phosphate (122.3%). The highest IAA production was recorded in Bacillus strain 2BPP8 (95.4 µg/mL), while 5ACPP6 was the highest among Actinomycetes (83.4 µg/mL). Siderophore production was highest in 5ACPP5 (412.4%) and 2ACPP4 (406.8%). In vitro antagonism assays showed that 5ACPP5 inhibited R. solani and A. alternata by 86.4% and 68.9%, respectively, while Bacillus strain BPP4 reached 51.0% inhibition against A. alternata. In greenhouse trials, strain 4BPP8 significantly increased fresh tuber weight (11.91 g), while 5ACPP5 enhanced root biomass and reduced stem canker severity. Molecular identification confirmed BPP4 as Bacillus halotolerans and 5ACPP5 as Streptomyces decoyicus. These strains represent promising candidates for the development of bioinoculants for sustainable potato cultivation in Andean systems. Full article

The water footprint of grain crop production is a key indicator for assessing agricultural water stress and resource-use efficiency. This study analyzes the dynamic evolution, convergence characteristics, and driving forces of water footprints for major grain crops in China’s primary producing regions from 2011 to 2022. The results show the following: (1) Total water footprints are mainly driven by blue and green water components, while grey water contributes relatively little, and the total footprint follows a fluctuating pattern of “decline–increase–decline–increase–decline.” Rice exhibits the highest water footprint, with an average annual value of 59.8251 million m³, whereas beans and tubers show much lower levels, each with an average annual footprint below 20 million m³. Grey water footprints for all grain crops have declined significantly since 2018, with reductions exceeding 10% by 2022. (2) Significant absolute convergence is observed across provinces, with the absolute convergence rate ultimately approaching 0.1, indicating that inter-provincial differences in water footprints are narrowing and that high-footprint regions are improving more rapidly toward lower-footprint regions. (3) Conditional convergence is also confirmed, with the conditional convergence rate approaching 0.2, suggesting that provinces converge toward their own steady-state levels, though convergence speeds are influenced by heterogeneous factors such as economic development, technological progress, and population size. (4) Generalised Divisia Index Method (GDIM) decomposition reveals that per capita agricultural GDP and mechanization intensity are the core drivers of changes in water footprints, and their synergistic effects produce an amplification impact, with cumulative contributions exceeding 100%. The findings provide important policy implications for optimizing water resource management and promoting sustainable agricultural development in China’s major grain-producing areas. Full article

Limited annotated data often constrain accurate yield prediction in underrepresented crops. To address this challenge, we developed a cross-crop deep transfer learning (TL) framework that leverages potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) as the source domain to predict sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas L.) yield using multi-temporal uncrewed aerial vehicle (UAV)-based multispectral imagery. A hybrid convolutional–recurrent neural network (CNN–RNN–Attention) architecture was implemented with a robust parameter-based transfer strategy to ensure temporal alignment and feature-space consistency across crops. Cross-crop feature migration analysis showed that predictors capturing canopy vigor, structure, and soil–vegetation contrast exhibited the highest distributional similarity between potato and sweet potato. In comparison, pigment-sensitive and agronomic predictors were less transferable. These robustness patterns were reflected in model performance, as all architectures showed substantial improvement when moving from the minimal 3 predictor subset to the 5–7 predictor subsets, where the most transferable indices were introduced. The hybrid CNN–RNN–Attention model achieved peak accuracy ($R^2\approx 0.64$ and RMSE ≈ 18%) using time-series data up to the tuberization stage with only 7 predictors. In contrast, convolutional neural network (CNN), bidirectional gated recurrent unit (BiGRU), and bidirectional long short-term memory (BiLSTM) baseline models required 11–13 predictors to achieve comparable performance and often showed reduced or unstable accuracy at higher dimensionality due to redundancy and domain-shift amplification. Two-way ANOVA further revealed that cover crop type significantly influenced yield, whereas nitrogen rate and the interaction term were not significant. Overall, this study demonstrates that combining robustness-aware feature design with hybrid deep TL model enables accurate, data-efficient, and physiologically interpretable yield prediction in sweet potato, offering a scalable pathway for applying TL in other underrepresented root and tuber crops. Full article

For successful potato production, maintaining a proper balance of mineral nutrients is crucial, as high yields cannot be achieved in fields lacking essential elements. The exact amount of fertilizer should be determined based on the expected yield, crop nutrient requirements, soil analysis, cultivation technology, and specific growing conditions. N (N) plays a crucial role in potato tuber growth. It is involved in the synthesis of proteins that are stored in the tubers and helps prolong the lifespan of the leaf canopy. On average, potato crops require a N supply of 80–120 kg/ha. Based on several studies, N fertilization significantly increased potato tuber yield, while dry matter content showed a slight decline. This indicates that higher N rates can enhance yield but potentially decrease tuber quality. To achieve high tuber yields while preserving desirable dry matter and starch content, the optimal N rate is approximately 100–120 kg N/ha. Although higher N inputs (>150 kg N/ha) may temporarily boost vegetative growth, they ultimately delay tuber maturation, reduce dry matter and starch accumulation, and increase production costs due to inefficient fertilizer use. Excessive N fertilization accelerates soil degradation and contributes to environmental pollution (soil acidification, NO₃⁻ leaching, NH₃ emissions, NO, N₂O, and NO₂, leading to additional long-term ecological burdens. Therefore, minimizing N losses through sustainable soil management is essential for maintaining both farm profitability and environmental protection. Integrating N fertilization with biofertilizers—such as beneficial bacteria that colonize roots, enhance nutrient uptake, and stimulate root development—can improve yields while reducing reliance on costly synthetic fertilizers. This supports both soil fertility and crop productivity. Full article

Accurate quantification of the Fertilizer Nitrogen Equivalence (FNE) of manure is crucial for optimizing integrated nitrogen (N) management and reducing chemical fertilizer use in potato production. However, uncertainties persist regarding FNE’s response to varying application rates and estimation methodologies. A two-year field experiment in Inner Mongolia, China, evaluated multi-gradient sheep manure applications in potato systems to determine whether FNE exhibits diminishing returns with increasing manure rates and to assess the influence of different estimation approaches. Potato N uptake, tuber yield, and growth parameters were measured. FNE was estimated using four methods: total N uptake, fertilizer-derived N uptake, absolute tuber yield, and yield increment. The key findings were: (1) Potato yield and total N uptake increased with higher N inputs but followed the law of diminishing returns. Notably, FNE values remained statistically stable across a wide application range (180–1200 kg N ha⁻¹, equivalent to 8–53 t ha⁻¹ of sheep manure), with no significant decline observed (p > 0.05), regardless of the estimation method. (2) Yield-based FNE values were, on average, 41% lower than those based on N uptake, indicating inefficiencies in converting absorbed N into tuber biomass. Among the methods, the yield increment approach demonstrated the highest consistency and robustness across treatments. In conclusion, our study demonstrates that the FNE of sheep manure remains stable across a broad application range in potato systems, with no evidence of diminishing returns. For practical fertilizer substitution, we recommend using the yield increment-based FNE estimation, as it provides a reliable and agronomically relevant measure for guiding manure application aimed at reducing chemical N inputs while maintaining crop productivity. Full article

Mashua (Tropaeolum tuberosum), an underutilized Andean tuber, has gained increasing scientific interest due to its exceptional nutritional composition and high bioactive phytochemical content. This narrative review synthesizes evidence from 68 peer-reviewed studies published up to August 2025, obtained through searches in Scopus and Web of Science, examining its macro- and micronutrient profile, richness in starch, proteins, and vitamin C, and diverse bioactive compounds, including glucosinolates, anthocyanins, and flavonoids. These metabolites exhibit strong antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anticancer, and cardioprotective activities, with the highest concentrations being observed in purple and black morphotypes. Recent studies demonstrated that incorporating mashua into bakery, extruded, and fermented food formulations enhanced nutritional value and oxidative stability. Overall, mashua represents a promising natural ingredient for functional foods and nutritional applications. Further research is required to optimize processing conditions, improve the stability and bioavailability of its active compounds, and validate its health-promoting effects. Full article