When the New York Times’ food and wine writer waxes poetic about your potato—“Inside the Huckleberry Gold’s purple jacket is a fine-textured potato with rich flavor”—you know you may have a winner on your hands… or at least on the dinner table!
The “you” in this case happens to be Agricultural Research Service’s (ARS) Small Grains and Potato Germplasm Research Unit in Aberdeen, Idaho, and the potato—Huckleberry Gold—is a variety with purple skin and yellow flesh whose culinary qualities are similar to those of the Yukon Gold. But it has lower sucrose and vitamin C content and a significantly higher level of antioxidants than Yukon Gold, thereby conferring greater health benefits. It’s also smaller than Yukon Gold, giving it better access to specialty markets geared toward smaller size.
Interest in specialty potato varieties has increased over the years, with consumers seeming to prefer varieties with purple skin and yellow flesh over those with red skin and yellow flesh.
To read the rest of the story, please go to: USDA ARS