Impact of Fusarium Infection on Potato Quality, Starch Digestibility, In Vitro Glycemic Response, and Resistant Starch Content.

Potato dry rot disease caused by multiple species is a major global concern in potato production. In this investigation, the tubers of cultivars Kufri Jyoti and Kufri Frysona were artificially inoculated with an individual or combined inoculum of and . caused a significantly higher lesion development ( < 0.01) than irrespective of cultivars. The combined inoculum of both the species caused significantly higher rot development ( < 0.005) in inoculated tubers. Analyses of starch and amylose content revealed that individual or mixed infection of fungi caused a significant reduction ( < 0.005) in these parameters compared to healthy tubers. The increased starch digestibility due to fungal infection caused a higher glycemic index and glycemic load. The resistant starch also deteriorated in the infected potato tubers as compared to the control. Kufri Jyoti showed a higher starch and amylose content reduction in response to the treatments compared to Kufri Frysona. The correlation analysis demonstrated a negative correlation in lesion diameter and rot volume with starch and amylose content ( < -0.80). However, the glycemic index and resistant starch were positively correlated with lesion development. Altogether, these findings highlight the progressive deterioration of quality parameters, which will be a critical concern for processing industry stakeholders and consumers.