Potato Glycoalkaloids: occurrence, biological activities and extraction for biovalorisation - a review

Potato tuber (Solanum tuberosum L.) is the fourth most important agricultural product after wheat, rice and maize. With a total production of 388 million in 2017, c.a. 70% of this total production is processed in developed countries, producing a large amount of potato peel waste (PPW) as by-product. Although PPW is considered as a zero-value by-product by the feed industry because it is too fibrous, for other recycling industries it is an inexpensive by-product due to its significant contents of some interesting nutrients particularly polyphenols and glycoalkaloids. In potato, and Solanum species in general, many glycoalkaloids, predominantly alpha-chaconine and alpha-solanine, have been chemically and structurally identified. However, further research is needed to expand the knowledge of the biological values of potato glycoalkaloids in order to develop a recycling process to extract these technologically and nutritionally interesting bioactive ingredients for different sectors, in particular, the agricultural, food and pharmaceutical ones, which are demanding natural, safe and eco-friendly ingredients.