Beyond the Ordinary Potato: Meet India’s Three Nutrient-Rich Coloured Varieties
From antioxidant-rich purple potatoes to red-skinned varieties, Indian agricultural research
is giving this everyday vegetable a nutritional makeover.
Shilpi Saxena
The humble potato is a staple in Indian kitchens. From aloo parathas and curries to samosas, chaats and snacks, it finds a place in countless dishes. But what if this familiar vegetable could offer more than just carbohydrates and calories?
Indian agricultural scientists have developed three nutrient-rich coloured potato varieties that bring something different to the table: Kufri Neelkanth, Kufri Manik and Kufri Jamunia. Developed by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research-Central Potato Research Institute (ICAR-CPRI), these varieties contain beneficial natural pigments and micronutrients, including anthocyanins, iron and zinc.
This innovations in traditional food and food processing is significant at a time when hidden hunger remains a nutritional challenge. Hidden hunger occurs when people consume enough calories but do not get adequate essential vitamins and minerals through their diets.
Biofortification offers one way to address this problem. It improves the nutritional composition of crops through plant breeding, allowing people to obtain additional nutrients through foods they already consume. These efforts are also driving interest in the biofortified potato as a way to improve the nutritional quality of a widely consumed staple.
Among the coloured potato varieties developed by ICAR-CPRI, Kufri Neelkanth, Kufri Manik and Kufri Jamunia stand out for their distinctive appearance and nutritional characteristics.
Kufri Neelkanth: India’s purple-skinned specialty potato
Kufri Neelkanth was the first purple-skinned specialty potato variety developed by ICAR-CPRI. Its distinctive pigmentation comes from natural compounds associated with antioxidant activity. The variety is known for its high antioxidant content and offers an alternative to conventional yellow-skinned potatoes.
Kufri Neelkanth is suitable for cultivation in Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. Its introduction marked an important step in developing specialty potatoes that combine distinctive appearance with nutritional value. The variety is also suitable for consumption by people across age groups.
Kufri Manik: A red-skinned nutritional alternative
Kufri Manik brings a different colour to the potato basket. Unlike the purple varieties, it produces attractive, deep-red, round tubers with medium-sized eyes and yellow flesh. Its nutritional profile includes anthocyanins, zinc and iron, making it another interesting addition to India’s coloured potato varieties.
The development of Kufri Manik reflects the growing focus on improving the nutritional quality of commonly consumed crops while offering farmers and consumers more choices. Its red skin and yellow flesh also give it a distinctive appearance, setting it apart from conventional potatoes.
Kufri Jamunia: The purple potato with enhanced nutritional value
Released in 2024, Kufri Jamunia represents a significant advancement in coloured potato breeding.
Unlike Kufri Neelkanth, which is known for its purple skin, Kufri Jamunia has both dark-purple skin and purple flesh. Its colour comes from naturally occurring pigments, particularly anthocyanins. This distinctive purple potato has attracted attention for its combination of colour and nutritional characteristics.
What makes this variety particularly interesting is its nutritional composition. According to ICAR-CPRI, Kufri Jamunia contains higher levels of ascorbic acid (Vitamin C), anthocyanins and carotenoids than Kufri Neelkanth and Kufri Manik. It also contains zinc and iron.
This has a medium-maturing crop cycle and produces around 10–12 medium to large tubers per plant. Its tubers are oblong, have shallow eyes and a mealy texture. Its agricultural performance is also encouraging. Under recommended cultivation practices, Kufri Jamunia produces around 32–35 tonnes per hectare. Station trials recorded yields of nearly 49 tonnes per hectare at 90 days, with marketable yield accounting for almost 90% of the total production.
It also offers good storage quality, with medium dormancy of around six to eight weeks, low rottage and minimal weight loss.
What makes Kufri Jamunia nutritionally different?
Kufri Jamunia’s nutritional value and benefits makes it particularly noteworthy among the three varieties. Understanding nutrition beyond individual nutrients, we realise that purple potato helps explain why researchers are interested in its potential contribution to dietary diversity.
Its purple flesh contains anthocyanins, while its Vitamin C and carotenoid content add to its nutritional profile. Anthocyanins also place this variety among anthocyanin rich foods, a group of plant-based foods recognised for their naturally occurring pigments and antioxidant properties.
Here is how it compares with a conventional yellow-skinned potato, according to figures shared by PIB:
| Nutrient per 100 g | Kufri Jamunia | Common potato |
|---|---|---|
| Vitamin C | 42.75 mg | 23.15 mg |
| Zinc | 2.28 mg | 0.28 mg |
| Iron | 3.22 mg | 0.57 mg |
Kufri Jamunia also contains 42.05 mg of anthocyanins per 100 g in its flesh and 80.66 mg per 100 g in its skin. Its carotenoid content in the flesh is approximately 161 micrograms per 100 g fresh weight. Anthocyanins are natural pigments responsible for red, purple and blue colours in several fruits and vegetables. They are also known for their antioxidant properties.
For consumers curious about purple potato benefits, its reported levels of Vitamin C, zinc, iron and anthocyanins make it an interesting addition to a varied diet. However, the nutritional composition of a food alone does not establish that it can prevent or treat a disease. These nutritional characteristics make Kufri Jamunia an interesting development in efforts to improve dietary diversity through biofortified crops.
From parathas to halwa: How can you use purple potatoes?
One of the advantages of coloured potatoes is that they do not require an entirely different approach to cooking. They can be incorporated into familiar Indian recipes as well as newer food preparations. Kufri Jamunia, in particular, offers considerable culinary versatility because of its purple flesh, mealy texture and pleasant flavour.
Some ways to use it include:
- Traditional Indian dishes: Vegetable curries, parathas, puris and raita.
- Breakfast preparations: Daliya, upma, dosa and idli batter.
- Snacks and desserts: Halwa and other potato-based preparations.
- Processed foods: Potato flour for bakery products, soups and cookies.
The tubers can also be processed into dehydrated products such as anthocyanin-rich daliya, suji and flour. These ingredients can add both nutritional value and visual appeal to different food formulations.
The distinctive purple colour also offers food manufacturers an opportunity to explore naturally pigmented products.
Where can Kufri Jamunia be grown?
For a new crop variety to reach consumers on a larger scale, it must perform reliably under different agricultural conditions. ICAR-CPRI has recommended Kufri Jamunia for cultivation in the North Indian plains, where potato farming is already well established. Its performance in multi-location trials indicates its suitability for several potato-growing regions. Its combination of agricultural productivity, storage quality and nutritional characteristics could make it an interesting option for farmers as well as food processors.
Purple potato vs white potato: What is the difference?
The main difference lies in pigmentation and nutritional composition. Conventional white- or yellow-fleshed potatoes provide carbohydrates and other nutrients, while coloured varieties such as Kufri Jamunia contain additional pigments, including anthocyanins. The precise nutritional differences depend on the variety and growing conditions. Kufri Jamunia therefore offers consumers another option when choosing potatoes for everyday meals, without requiring them to abandon familiar recipes.
A colourful addition to India’s food and nutrition landscape
The development of Kufri Neelkanth, Kufri Manik and Kufri Jamunia shows how agricultural research can go beyond improving crop yields. By focusing on the nutritional awareness and healthier food choices, scientists are exploring ways to make familiar staples more nutritionally diverse.
While Kufri Neelkanth and Kufri Manik bring purple and red-skinned varieties to the market, Kufri Jamunia takes the development further with its purple flesh and enhanced nutritional profile. These coloured potatoes may not replace conventional varieties, but they offer farmers, consumers and food businesses additional choices. The next time potatoes feature on the menu, there may be more than one colour to choose from.
Shilpi Saxena is a dietician-nutritionist
