NewsIndustryPotatoes Experience an Innovation Boom in Peru

Potatoes Experience an Innovation Boom in Peru

-

According to the executive director of Cite Papa and other Andean Crops, Celfia Obregon Ramirez, potatoes have stopped being just an agricultural crop and have become the great source innovation in Peru, which has the greatest diversity of potatoes in the world and, thus, infinite possibilities to innovate.

“We have 3,500 potato varieties with different properties, contents, and qualities for all types of industries, such as biotechnology, the pharmaceutical industry, natural dyes, and making other products that don’t necessarily have to be food products. Other countries are even using potatoes to generate power,” she said.

Peruvian exquisite colored chips continue to surprise the world because they are very exotic, she added, but young Peruvian entrepreneurs have already created other products that may be attractive for the international market, such as the 14 Inkas potato vodka, the first of its kind made with native potatoes.

Celfia Obregon, said she was optimistic an innovative boom had already begun in the hands of entrepreneurs with solid proposals. The CITE Papa, which has an alliance with the University of Wisconsin – Madison (USA), the largest potato research center in the world, has obtained the formula to produce beer from potatoes and it is currently looking for a local manufacturer that wants to develop the product commercially, she stated.

In addition, she said Wisconsin has completed a research with Peruvian potato and ecological technology to produce recyclable plastics with potato starch. “We’ll take advantage of the native potatoes that are not edible but have very high rates of dry matter (starch),” she stated.

Source: Fresh Plaza

Trending This Week

Building Resilience: What Role Does the CPC Play in Canada’s Potato Industry?

Canadian potato growers today must continue to evolve amid a changing agricultural landscape, where sustainable practices and technological innovation are imperative for success. Understanding these...

Manitoba Potato Industry: Grounded in Pride

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iC0Ie-KRLSY   With a record-setting 650 attendees and a program packed with timely information for growers, the 52nd annual Manitoba Potato Production Days was certainly one...

Market Update – January

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u4zX_MQC37A The latest Canadian Potato Storage Holdings report won't be released until mid February, but Spud Smart editor Dawn Ius and UPGC General Manager Victoria...

Making the Right Variety Choices with Data and Expertise

0
This is a busy time of year. The holidays are behind us and you’re deep in the process of planning for the upcoming season....

How to Grow More with Less

0
As the potato industry embraces regenerative agriculture, sustainability is becoming more than just a goal: it’s an expectation. Processors and buyers are setting ambitious...