The Indian Council of Agricultural Research-Central Potato Research Institute (ICAR-CPRI) has developed Kufri Jamunia, a biofortified purple potato variety officially released in 2024 as part of efforts to address hidden hunger through enhanced nutritional content in staple crops. This medium-maturing variety produces dark purple-skinned tubers with purple flesh, yielding 32-35 tonnes per hectare under recommended cultivation practices and reaching up to 49 tonnes per hectare in station trials at 90 days duration, with marketable yield comprising nearly 90% of total production.
The nutritional profile shows significantly enhanced values compared to conventional potatoes: 42.75 mg/100g Vitamin C (versus 23.15 mg in common potatoes), 2.28 mg/100g zinc (versus 0.28 mg), and 3.22 mg/100g iron (versus 0.57 mg). The variety contains 42.05 mg/100g anthocyanins in flesh and 80.66 mg/100g in skin, along with 161 µg/100g fresh weight of carotenoids in flesh. Kufri Jamunia exhibits medium dormancy of 6-8 weeks and good storage quality with low rottage and minimal weight loss.
Culinary applications include traditional dishes such as vegetable curry, paratha, puri, and raita, as well as breakfast items like daliya, halwa, upma, dosa, and idli batter. The variety is also suitable for processed products including potato flour for bakery items, soups, cookies, and dehydrated anthocyanin-rich products. Recommended for cultivation in North Indian plains, Kufri Jamunia follows earlier colored potato varieties including Kufri Neelkanth (released 2018) and Kufri Manik (released 2021), representing advancement in biofortification research to improve dietary diversity and nutritional security through sustainable plant breeding approaches.