Determination of Glycoalcaloids in Hungarian Potatoes by HPLC R. To ¨mo ¨sko ¨zi-Farkas 1,& , H. G. Daood 1 , Zs. Polga ´r 2 , Gy. Hajo ´s 1 1 Central Food Research Institute, Herman Otto ´u ´t 15., 1022, Budapest Hungary; E-Mail: r.farkas@cfri.hu 2 Potato Research Centre, Georgikon Faculty of Agriculture, University of Veszpre ´m, 8360, Keszthely Festetics Gy. u. 7., Hungary Received: 10 October 2005 / Revised: 14 February 2006 / Accepted: 20 February 2006 Online publication: 26 April 2006 Abstract In this work potato genotypes originated from an intensive resistance breeding programme that includes unique combination of resistance to several pathogens and consumer response were analysed for glycoalcaloid content by reversed phase high performance liquid chromato- graphic method. The glycoalcaloids were concentrated from potato samples by solid-phase extraction with a disposable C18 cartridge column. Nucleosil 100-5 C-18-AB column was used with 50% acetonitrile in phosphate buffer as the mobile phase. The method was validated according to calibration curve, precision and recovery tests, limit of detection and quantitation. The results indicated that as low as 0.27 lg mL )1 can be quantitatively determined by this method with 94–98% and 99% for recovery and precision, respectively. Hungarian potatoes were analysed by the adapted procedure for their glycoalcaloid content. The result showed that the tested Hungarian potato varieties contain glycoalcaloids between 0.09 and 15 mg 100 g )1 . The content of glycoalcaloids in the new varieties of potato was lower than the limit of the Official Food Regulations. Keywords Column liquid chromatography Glycoalcaloids Potatoes Resistance breeding Introduction Wild solanum species are increasingly being used in potato breeding as a source of genes for resistances against diseases and pests and for other valuable charac- teristics too. From the human nutrition point of view occurrence of several types of glycoalkaloids threatens consumer’s health. Glycoalcaloid poisoning causes several symptoms ranging from gastro- intestinal disorders, through confusion, hallucination and partial paralysis to convulsions, coma and death [1]. The poisoning occurs when a-solanine and a-chachonine are taken in with high level a day [2]. The usual concentration of such glycoalcaloids in potato is around 0.02% (200 ppm), over which toxicity starts. The total glycoalcaloid contents (TGA) of the tubers of the wild species varies from 123 to 7348 mg kg )1 fresh weight [3]. Nowadays the widely accepted safety limit for the level of the TGA in tubers is 200 mg kg )1 fresh weight [4], the limit prescribed by the Hungarian Official Food Regulations is 180 mg kg )1 (Order of EU ¨ M 17/1999/5th Appendix; 16.06.1999). One of the main goals of recent potato breeding efforts is to develop new varie- ties with increased resistance to different pathogens and pests (viruses, bacteria, fungi, nematodes etc.). The wild potato species are unique sources of desired resistance traits. Consequently a strict selection process focusing on the combi- nation of wild species resistance genes with desirable agricultural and quality traits of cultivated potato is a necessity. In this contexts continuous selection of advanced breeding material based on exact measurement of the TGA content is a real need for breeders. The most important group of alka- loids in commercial potato varieties are the glycoalcaloids (GA), in which one or more sugar molecules (usually three) are linked to the steroidal alkaloid solani- dine. a-solanine and a-chaconine account for 95% of the TGA in potato tubers. These secondary metabolites of potatoes are particularly concentrated near the peel of the tuber. However, in green and sprouted tubers, the TGA concentration is also high in the internal part. Glyco- alcaloids are not destroyed during cook- ing and frying [5]. Presented at: 6th Balaton Symposium on High- Performance Separation Methods, Sio´fok, Hungary, September 7–9, 2005 2006, 63, S115–S118 DOI: 10.1365/s10337-006-0763-4 Ó 2006 Friedr. Vieweg & Sohn/GWV Fachverlage GmbH Short Communication Chromatographia Supplement Vol. 63, 2006 S115