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Here’s why you need plenty of spuds on your Christmas dinner plate

Potatoes are a great source of vitamins and minerals (c) James Hutton Inst
"Potato has a very high satiety index compared to foods with an equivalent carbohydrate content and this represents a very positive aspect of potato nutrition"

Tis’ the season of potato intake, but did you know the humble tattie is a great source of vitamins C, B6, B9 and a whole host of macro and microminerals? Together, these biocompounds are responsible for maintaining a good health balance and delaying the onset of several degenerative diseases.

A Hutton study on the benefits of potatoes on human health has found that these micro and macro-minerals and to a lesser extent the vitamins, can survive processing and cooking methods.

Professor Derek Stewart, co-author of the study, said: “Non-nutrient but health beneficial components such as carotenoids and polyphenols have been the target of many model and intervention studies and almost uniformly were identified as beneficial to human health with respect to reducing markers of degenerative disease.

“These are emerging science health areas and need a watching brief. Potato has a very high satiety index compared to foods with an equivalent carbohydrate content and this represents a very positive aspect of potato nutrition.

Professor Stewart also pointed out that potato should be reassessed as a source of nutrient and beneficial chemicals as well as a food and this could be a viable processing income stream for primary production as well as processing waste.

“The production of potato-derived chemicals such as starch and cell wall polysaccharides, protein, glycoalkaloids, polyphenols, carotenoids etc may well be a viable business in the post-Brexit economy.”

The study titled “Potato – A basis for human nutrition and health benefits” was co-authored by Hutton scientist Dr Mark Taylor and can be downloaded from the AHDB Potatoes website.

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The James Hutton Research Institute is the result of the merger in April 2011 of MLURI and SCRI. This merger formed a new powerhouse for research into food, land use, and climate change.