Potatoes… - Bayer CropScience

Compostable plates and saucers
Toys (Photos: Kompetenzzentrum für Nachwachsende Rohstoffe,
KoWaRo, Germany)
than 100,000 tonnes a year; however, the
European Bioplastics Association forecasts
a rapid increase in capacity, with
world-wide production exceeding 1.5 million
tonnes by 2011, not least because of
high oil prices and the question of climate
change. In countries such as France, Italy
and Australia, there is a political will to
introduce biologically-degradable carrier
bags. Experts predict that with today’s
technologies, biomaterials would be able
to replace 1 to 2 million tonnes-worth of
mineral oil-derived disposable plastics, so
long as worldwide production capacity
increases correspondingly. This will of
course mean greater demand for potato
starch.
But the industrial application of starches
from spuds is certainly not limited to
these uses. Potato starches are also used to
produce bio-surfactants that can replace
synthetic detergents in washing powders,
soaps and shampoos. And let’s not forget
that potato starch can be fermented and
distilled into bioethanol, which is being
mixed with conventional petrol in a number
of industrial countries. It is even economically
worthwhile to produce biofuels
from the peelings that are a by-product
of the food industry. According to the
German (Bavarian) raw materials network
C.A.R.M.E.N., the long-term trend in the
use of starches lies in chemical and technical
applications.
In the future, biotechnology may improve
the efficiency with which renewable
raw materials are obtained from potatoes,
because gene technology can be used to
alter a variety’s starch profile. But Agrobiotechnology
will also help to protect the
potato plant from the numerous pests and
diseases that attack it. Given the growing
world population, this is an important task
– a hectare of potatoes not only has the
potential to produce the highest starch
yield for industrial uses; it could also be
used to produce food with two- to fourtimes
the nutritional yield of wheat, and
a higher nutritional contribution per unit
of water used than any other major crop
plant. ■
Written by: Norbert Lehmann
Did you know that the potato…
• was probably first cultivated more than 8,000 years ago, in the
Andean highlands near Lake Titicaca
• is grown today in more than 125 countries around the globe
• is related to aubergine, tomato and tobacco, but not to sweet potato
• is available in over 5.000 cultivars from more than 100 wild-types
• provided – with its tiny starch grains – the basis for the Lumière
brothers’ 1903 patent for a colour photography technique
• comprises up to 80 % water
• was the first vegetable to grow in space (onboard the Space Shuttle
Columbia, in 1995)
• is rich in vitamin C and essential minerals such as manganese,
selenium and molybdenum
• doesn’t absorb salt during cooking
1/08 COURIER 31