Morphometric and phytochemical characterization and elevation effect on yield of three potato landraces of the Ligurian Apennines (Northern Italy)

The adaptability, productivity and importance to the human diet of the potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) have conditioned the crop to dif- fusion across very different areas, leading to the formation of several landraces through anthropic or natural selection. The mountainous inland of Genoa, Italy is a historical centre for potato cultivation, and landraces have been preserved in this area by farmers’ asso- ciations, such as the Consorzio della Quarantina. This study aims to provide phytochemical and morphometric characterization of three potato landraces from this consortium (Quarantina Bianca, Quarantina Prugnona and Rubra Spes) by analysing their bio-agro- nomical performance at different elevations. The commercial culti- var Kennebec was used as a control. For the morphometric analysis, only Quarantina Bianca did not present signi cant differences from Kennebec in the mean shape results of a pairwise MANOVA. The four potato varieties showed signi cantly different results for most of the considered phytochemical parameters, among them the content in ash, total avonoids, total phenols, chlorogenic acid, caffeic acid, ferulic acid and radical scavenging activity. Only starch and solanine content were not statistically different. A remarkable result was a more consistent yield for all of the varieties with the increase of ele- vation in the agronomical trials. The results indicate that Genovese landraces are a good choice to make use of marginal lands in the Genovese mountains.