Evaluating potato hybrid combinations for their suitability for processing

Relevance. Increasing the volume of potato processing is a priority in the national strategy of potato produc- tion. Over the last years, scientific institutions and private breeding companies achieved significant results in potato breeding. More than ninety varieties were created in the last five years. However, the number of suitable varieties for the production of potato products is still low and does not reach 10 %. The absence of specialized varieties could be explained by the difficulty of the combination of numerous desirable traits in one genotype. The research goal was to evaluate potato hybrid combinations of different origin for the occurrence frequency of forms with high suitability for processing in the conditions of Primoraky kray. Materials and Methods. The research was conducted by the Department of Potato Breeding and Horticulture at FSBSI “FSC of Agricultural Biotechnology of the Far East named after A.K. Chaiki”. Five hundred and eighty-nine potato genotypes were used as the research object. The genotypes had been obtained from seven hybrid combinations of parental forms with a different degree of suitability for processing. The specimens were grown in the nursery of the first tuber generation. The specimens were evaluated according to the guidelines on the evaluation of potato varieties for their suitability for processing and storage. Results. The paper provides data on the evaluation of potato hybrid combinations for the inheritance of tuber morphological traits, the content of reduced sugars, and the quality of potato chips depending on the color of potato slices. It was established that the distribution of hybrids by tuber shape in the studied populations did not have a distinct pattern. Splitting of skin color in the combinations was observed when parental forms with red flesh were included in hybridization. Shallow depth of eyes characterized most of the studied populations. Yellow flesh dominated over white, creamy, and pale yellow ones. The highest number of hybrids with a minimum content of reduced sugars (below 0.25%) was noted in the population VR 808 × Karmen (83.9%). Highly suitable hybrids selected by the color of fried potato slices were found in all the combinations except for Innovator x Vympel. The highest occurrence frequency (14.5-19.5 %) of the forms with the golden color of fried potato slices (8-9 points) was noted in the combinations with highly suitable variety VR 808 and unsuitable varieties Karmen and Ibis. The domination coefficient was close to zero in the combinations Ibis × VR 808, VR 808 × Karmen, VR 808 × Briz, and Innovator × Mirazh. This demonstrated the distinct transitional character of inheritance and additive gene action. Hybrid depression was observed in the combinations VR 808 × Ricarda, ВР 808 × Vympel, and Innovator x Vympel. The domination coefficient ranged from -1.50 to -3.80. High positive correlation was discovered between the mean point score of the slice color in the progeny and the percentage of the highly suitable forms (r=0.881). Conclusion. The evaluation of the hybrid combinations allowed us to select potato hybrids with the high qual- ity of potato chips depending on the color in the crossings like “highly suitable genotype х moderately suitable genotype” and “suitable genotype х unsuitable genotype”. The highest number of highly suitable forms was found in the combinations VR 808 × Karmen and Ibis × VR 808 (14.5-19.5%).