Researchers spent decades breeding better potatoes for chips, and the work isn’t done

EAST LANSING, Mich. — There’s a surprising amount of science in a bag of chips.

Researchers have spent decades developing potatoes for chip makers that can grow in all types of climates, avoid diseases and pests, stay in storage for months while still providing a satisfying crunch. They also kept an eye on consumer trends; the shift to snack-sized portions has increased demand for smaller potato chips, for example.

“The potato industry is dynamic,” said David Douches, a Michigan State University professor who directs the school’s potato breeding and genetics program. “Needs change, costs change, the pressures they face and markets change. So we have to adapt to that with our varieties.”

Douches has developed five new potato chip varieties over the past 15 years. His latest discovery is a bioengineered potato that can maintain a proper sugar balance when stored at colder temperatures, which can help prevent potatoes from rotting. He is currently growing seeds to commercially test the potato, which is not yet on the market.

Douches’ work helps fight world hunger; he developed disease-resistant varieties for farmers in Nigeria, Kenya, Rwanda and Bangladesh. But it also helps America’s chip makers, grateful snackers and Michigan’s $2.5 billion potato industry. While Idaho leads the U.S. in potato production, Michigan is the top producer of potato chips.

There are currently about 50 unique potato varieties grown for chips in the United States, according to the National Chip Program, a cooperative that brings together Michigan State and 11 other university breeding programs with growers, chip companies and the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Efforts to improve these varieties are constant. The National Chip Program evaluates about 225 new potato varieties each year and selects 100 for further testing, said Tim Rendall, director of production research at Potatoes USA, a trade group that oversees the chip program.

The close partnership between researchers, farmers and chip companies is unusual in the food industry, said Phil Gusmano, vice president of purchasing at Better Made Snack Foods, which has produced chips in Detroit since 1930. Better Made worked closely with Douches when it was developing two of the varieties the company currently uses, Gusmano said.

“We were able to talk about the size profile and the different needs that make up a really good chip,” Gusmano said. “And the good thing is they’re willing to listen to what we have to say, because if they’re making a potato that doesn’t really meet the needs of the end processor, it’s no good to them.”

Breeding a new type of potato can take up to 15 years, Douches said. The simple potato has a surprisingly complex genetic structure, with four chromosomes in each cell, compared to two in most species, including humans. This makes it more difficult to predict which traits crossbred plants will inherit, he said.

“We never manage to correct a character and pass it on to the next generation. So it’s very difficult to find a potato that has all the traits you want,” Douches said.

Douches became fascinated with potato breeding and genetics during his graduate studies. In the state of Michigan, it focuses on potato crushing, since Michigan is one of the major producers. According to the Michigan Ag Council, about 70 percent of the state’s potato crop goes to potato chip processing. The trade group estimates that one in four bags of chips produced in the United States contains Michigan potatoes.

Selecting potatoes that could last in storage for nearly a year was one of the biggest challenges of Douches’ 40-year career. Historically, farmers harvested potatoes and then stored them in huge piles at around 50 degrees Fahrenheit (10 degrees Celsius). Colder temperatures lead to increased sugar levels in root vegetables, and higher sugar content leads to darker potato chips. But warmer storage conditions can lead to rotting.

“You think they’re just inanimate objects, but actually they’re breathing and breathing,” Douches said. “When you do that to them, you have a two to three day window where they are happy.”

Its Manistee variety, released in 2013, can be safely stored until July at 45 degrees F (7.2 C). Its new bioengineered potato can be stored at 40 F (4.4 C).

Gusmano said Better Made sources its potatoes from outside Michigan for half the year because Michigan potatoes harvested only in the fall can be stored until February. The company now uses newer varieties, like Douches’ Mackinaw potato, which can be stored until July and is resistant to several common diseases.

“We don’t ship potatoes from all over the country to fry here in Michigan,” Gusmano said. “Instead, they are shipped an hour and a half away all year round.”