PROCESSING ENTERPRISE REQUIREMENTS TO POTATOES FOR PROCESSING INTO FRENCH POTATO PRODUCT

The objective of the study is to investigate promising potato varieties with high adaptive potential, combining high productivity and suitability for industrial processing into French fries. The object of the study is 2 potato varieties of foreign selection HZPC Holland B.V. (the Netherlands): Challenger and Innovator, belonging to different maturity groups. Potatoes of the Innovator and Challenger varieties are suitable for processing into French fries, taking into account the specification of the requirements of the enterprise OOO Vi Fry, including physicochemical and organoleptic parameters. The potato tuber of both varieties is elongated-oval with small eyes with light yellow flesh, culinary type B. In the conditions of the Lipetsk Region, the varieties showed high productivity, but the Challenger variety was the most productive – 39.6 t/ha. The Innovator variety formed a yield 8.1 t/ha less. The varieties had no internal defects, and the number of external defects in tubers of the Innovator variety was 35.0 %, and Challenger – 20.08 %, with the limiting indicator of this factor being no more than 50 %. The Innovator variety had more severe damage during harvesting, its tubers had more black spots. The commercial fraction (over 45 mm) of tubers was high and amounted to 91.14 to 94.99 % for the Innovator variety and 71.84 to 72.56 % for the Challenger variety. The number of potatoes smaller than the specification requirements was insignificant: Innovator – 1.37 % and Challenger – 3.54 %. The varieties meet the requirements of the Vi Fry company for the dry matter content in tubers, which has restrictions (not less than 19.6 %): the Innovator variety accumulated 20.90 %, Challenger – 22.25 %. The varieties also correspond in terms of the weight of potatoes under water (more than 360 g): for the Challenger variety, the weight varied from 406 to 417 g, for the Innovator – from 375 to 393 g. Presumably due to difficult weather conditions during harvesting, both varieties did not meet the requirements for color scales and color index – they significantly exceeded the restrictive parameters.