Biotechnology of Nutritional Improvement of Potato

Potato is a highly nutritious, mild flavoured, easy to blend food that has many possibilities for “building in” desired nutrients. Although biotechnology has been in the service of the food industry for over 8000 years, only recent advances in molecular biology indicate the potential for further improvements in potato in the way of colour, flavour, texture, environmental adaptation, change in the content of vitamins; palatability; protein/carbohydrate ratios, as well as the crop yield. In the field of food processing and production, the use of immobilized biocatalyst technology has enabled potato starch to be converted to single cell protein using yeasts (Knorr and Sinskey 1985).