Lenape potato facts for kids

The Lenape potato (also called B5141-6) is a type of potato that was first introduced in 1967. It was named after the Lenape Native American tribe. However, this potato was taken off the market in 1970. This happened because it contained high levels of natural toxins called glycoalkaloids.

The Lenape potato was created by Wilford Mills at Pennsylvania State University. He worked with the Wise Potato Chip Company. This potato was made by crossing a potato called Delta Gold with a wild Peruvian potato. The wild potato (Solanum chacoense) was chosen because it could naturally fight off insects. The Lenape potato was good for making potato chips. It had a high amount of dry matter and low sugar. It was also safe from potato virus A and resistant to common types of late blight. This potato grows to be medium-late in maturity. It produces round, white potatoes with shallow "eyes."

Glycoalkaloid Content

After the Lenape potato was released, a potato expert in Canada ate some. He wanted to see if they would be good as new potatoes. But he soon felt sick to his stomach. When he ate them again and felt sick, he sent a sample for testing. Dr. Ambrose Zitnak, a scientist from the University of Guelph, tested the potatoes. He found that they had very high levels of glycoalkaloids. These are natural toxins found in potatoes. They help protect potatoes from pests and diseases.

Lenape potatoes from Canada had 16–35 mg of glycoalkaloids per 100 g of potato. Other potato types usually have 3–18 mg. Potatoes grown in 39 places across the US had an average of 29 mg per 100 g. Some even had up to 65 mg. Other common potato types had an average of only 8 mg. Before this, high toxin levels were thought to be from damaged potatoes. Or from potatoes that turned green after being in the light. But with Lenape, the high levels were part of its genes. Because of these findings, the Lenape potato was removed from the market in 1970. Scientists then suggested that all new potato types should be tested for toxins. This testing happens before they are widely sold.

Safety Lessons Learned

The Lenape potato story teaches us an important lesson about plant breeding. It showed that even traditional breeding methods can sometimes create plants with unexpected high levels of natural toxins. This event helped scientists understand the need for careful testing. It led to better rules for checking new plant varieties. These rules help make sure that new crops are safe for people to eat. The high toxin levels in Lenape likely came from its wild Peruvian parent. This parent naturally had genes for higher glycoalkaloids. Modern plant breeding methods now focus on preventing such unintended gene introductions.

Use in Breeding New Potatoes

Even though the Lenape potato had problems, it was still useful. Scientists kept it to use in breeding new potato types. They looked for new potatoes that had high dry matter. But they made sure to reject any that also had high glycoalkaloids. The Lenape potato is a parent to many popular chipping potatoes. These include Atlantic, Trent, Belchip, and Snowden. It is also a grandparent to several other types. A study in 1998 found that Lenape had the highest dry matter content. This was true among chipping potatoes released in the USA. The study said that Lenape was a "major advance in chipping quality." It helped lead to newer potato types with even better dry matter content.