Research in the potato world

Is the potato variety on the packaging in the shop really what it says? Were the crossing parents of this new seedling really true-to-variety when the offspring are so dissimilar? Must we throw these nearly-similar seedlings straight into the bin if they have accidentally been switched or should we save them after all? The Stichting Nederlandse Algemene Kwaliteitsdienst Tuinbouw (Netherlands Inspection Service for Horticulture), better known as Naktuinbouw, recently found the answers to all these questions thanks to modern research with the aid of DNA technology. The Naktuinbouw Laboratories’ forensic team, Dr Hedwich Teunissen and Mr Menno Hoekstra, ‘ shows how they can very clearly identify potato tubers and plants.