Lady Alicia Newsletter 5/2023

LADY ALICIA development

In recent years we have been working on the development / introduction of our new crisping variety Lady Alicia. With this newsletter we would like to inform you where we are with the variety at the moment. The map below shows an overview of the production and processing areas of the variety.

 

During the introduction, the strong points of climate stress robustness and processing flexibility were confirmed.

This experience has taught us how to optimize the management of the variety. The key to success with Lady Alicia is to focus on the points below:

• Apply all of the N gift at planting, do not split.
• Make sure the crop reaches good maturity.
• Use MH in the field and start sprout control on time.
• In storage, target 8°C, and no colder than 7°C.
• Always use a store that allows fresh air

Following this advice gives the best potential for good fry quality from direct harvest for up to 8 months of storage.

LADY ALICIA the traveler

The last 3 years have confirmed the ability of Lady Alicia to be shipped in containers over long distances. Indeed commercial volumes have been sent to crisping factories on the other side of the globe with a very pleasing product quality from the factories. Lady Alicia remains stable during the journey without suffering from pressure spots. By using sprouting inhibitors within the container and keeping the temperature above 7°C, both sprouting pressure and crisp quality are kept under control.

Early LADY

The processing flexibility of Lady Alicia starts in the field with “early harvests”. The variety shows a quick build-up of dry matter and a good crisping colour early in the season when plants are still green. Thus Lady Alicia can be managed like a Lady Rosetta crop and harvested “green top” for early processing.

The variety can be processed about 7 to 10 days later after Lady Rosetta which allows for a good tuber size, dry matter and acrylamide level. If early markets are not opportune, Lady Alicia fields can be maintained as a maincrop bringing all its tubers into the marketable size and reaching sugars stability for long term storage.

Sugars profile of LADY ALICIA

Since the start of the introduction of Lady Alicia, Meijer Potato invested into an equipment able to measure the sugars. A big quantity of samples from commercial stores from various countries have been followed with this equipment these last years. More than 100 samples have been collected from a wide range of conditions and management practices. They were taken directly after harvest and throughout 11 months of storage, and have been analyzed in order to assess the potential acrylamide content of the variety after processing.    

The results show a stable acrylamide content from harvest till December. As with Lady Claire, we can see a gentle variation in January – February which falls back to the original level by March and remains stable again until the end of the storage (June-July). The processing runs at the end of the storage season over the years have shown the real flexibility of Lady Alicia. This variety can be processed from harvest until the late storage season, whenever you wish.