Bioscience Evidence 2026, Vol.16, No.4, 329-344 http://bioscipublisher.com/index.php/be 330 In addition to anthocyanins, colored potatoes contain abundant phenolic acids, particularly chlorogenic acid and related hydroxycinnamic acid derivatives, as well as flavonoids, vitamin C, carotenoids, tocopherols, and other antioxidant compounds. Chlorogenic acid is consistently identified as the predominant phenolic acid in potato tubers and peels (Kalita et al., 2018). Flavonoids and phenolic acids are major contributors to antioxidant activity in colored-fleshed potatoes, whereas carotenoids such as lutein are more closely associated with yellow flesh coloration (Vaitkevičienė et al., 2020). Potato polyphenols have also been shown to inhibit key enzymes associated with diabetes development, including α-amylase, α-glucosidase, and aldose reductase, suggesting their potential value in functional food development (Bravo et al., 2023). However, the accumulation of nutritional components and bioactive compounds in colored potatoes is not constant but is influenced by multiple factors, including genotype, cultivation practices, maturity stage, storage conditions, and processing methods. Against this background, investigating the differences in nutritional components and bioactive compounds among colored potatoes has both theoretical and practical significance. This review systematically summarizes the production and utilization value of colored potatoes, compares the major nutritional components and bioactive compounds among different color types and tissues, and analyzes the key factors influencing compositional variation. Furthermore, it summarizes current progress and future prospects in nutritional quality evaluation, cultivar improvement, product development, and comprehensive utilization of colored potatoes. The aim is to provide a better understanding of the relationship between pigmentation-related diversity and nutritional quality, and to support the enhancement of functional value and industrial utilization of colored potato resources. 2 Differences in Major Nutritional Components and Bioactive Compounds among Colored Potatoes 2.1 Differences in starch, dry matter, and eating quality Although colored potatoes are often classified according to flesh color, starch and dry matter contents are determined primarily by genotype rather than by a simple ranking of purple-, red-, or yellow-fleshed cultivars. Solovyeva et al. (2024) evaluated 14 potato cultivars grown in northwestern Russia over three consecutive years and measured 12 quality traits, including dry matter, starch, protein, vitamin C, reducing sugars, carotenoids, anthocyanins, and phenolic compounds. The purple-fleshed cultivar Fioletovyi had an average dry matter content of only 19.67%, which was substantially lower than that of the high-dry-matter cultivar Sokur (>24%) and also lower than Grand (23.71%) and Krasavchik (23.31%). These findings indicate that darker flesh color or higher anthocyanin concentration does not necessarily correspond to greater dry matter or starch accumulation. Genotypic variation accounted for 38%~53% of the variation in dry matter, starch, protein, and sugar contents, whereas growing season and storage conditions had relatively limited effects on dry matter content. In addition to differences in starch content, potatoes with different flesh colors also differ in amylose proportion, amylopectin structure, pasting behavior, and gel properties. Yang et al. (2018) extracted starches from yellow-, purple-, and red-fleshed potatoes and compared their physicochemical characteristics. Yellow-fleshed potatoes exhibited the highest amylose content (25.23%), followed by purple-fleshed (23.30%) and red-fleshed potatoes (20.26%) (Figure 1). Although all three starches displayed the typical B-type crystalline structure characteristic of potato starch, purple-fleshed potatoes contained a higher proportion of short amylopectin branches, and significant differences were observed among the three color groups in molecular weight distribution, branch-chain length, and pasting properties. The starch pastes of purple- and red-fleshed potatoes showed light transmittance values of 90.92% and 86.41%, respectively, which were markedly higher than that of yellow-fleshed potatoes (34.03%). These results suggest that starches from colored potatoes may possess unique functional properties for applications in transparent gels, thickened foods, and specialty starch-based products, distinguishing them from conventional yellow-fleshed potato starches. 2.2 Differences in protein, dietary fiber, vitamins, and minerals In addition to starch, protein, dietary fiber, vitamins, and mineral elements are important nutritional characteristics that distinguish colored potatoes from conventional white-fleshed potatoes. Because colored potatoes originate from diverse local germplasm resources and improved cultivars with different genetic backgrounds, considerable
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