Embrapa’s new potato cultivar combines key traits for both growers and processors, including high yields, disease resistance, and strong frying performance. Developed through more than a decade of work by the Potato Genetic Improvement Program, BRS F21 earned the nickname “Braschips” for its high industrial output and the superior quality of the chips it produces.
“This cultivar is well suited to industrial processing because it brings together two factors that signal excellent frying quality,” explains researcher Giovani Olegário of Embrapa Hortaliças (DF). “The high dry-matter content means the tubers contain less water, resulting in chips that are drier and crispier. At the same time, the low sugar content prevents caramelization, producing a lighter, more uniform color that consumers prefer.”
Additional advantages include a firm texture, characteristic flavor, light-yellow flesh, and an oval tuber shape — traits that support consistent, high-quality frying. The cultivar also shows a low incidence of physiological disorders such as internal discoloration and cracking, which helps reduce processing losses and increases industrial yield.
Whether produced as chips or shoestring potatoes, BRS F21 performed well in preliminary industry partnership trials. The project has now moved into larger-scale evaluations to confirm acceptance among growers who supply potatoes for processing, according to a press release.
High Productivity and Stability
The cultivar enters the market with the potential to outperform leading competitors in yield, wide adaptability, and consistent performance across Brazil’s main potato-growing regions — including the Triângulo Mineiro, one of the country’s most important potato-supplying areas for agro-industries.
The vegetative vigor and greater productive potential of the BRS F21 potato contribute to the cost reduction of raw material intended for industrial processing in the form of chips or straw. “Another important feature is the slightly longer production cycle, but which ensures greater accumulation of starch in the tubers up to the levels desired by the industry,” says Olegário.
At harvest time, desiccation followed by an interval of about 10 days — when sugars are converted into starch—is a key step in producing light-colored chips. The researcher notes that, toward the end of the crop cycle, regular monitoring using field samples is essential to assess dry matter and frying quality and to determine the ideal harvest moment.
Resistance to PVY
A key competitive advantage of the BRS F21 potato cultivar is its resistance to PVY, one of the crop’s most serious phytosanitary challenges and the virus with the greatest socioeconomic impact on potato production in Brazil. “This disease is known as mosaic and causes yellowing and weakening of the plant, significantly reducing the yield of crops,” said Olegário.
Because potatoes are propagated through tubers, PVY infection can also severely compromise seed quality. With its low susceptibility to the virus, Embrapa’s new cultivar helps preserve plant vigor across successive production cycles—an important step forward for the sector.
BRS F21 also demonstrated good resistance to late blight and black spot, two major foliar issues in the main producing areas of southern Brazil.
Diversifying Embrapa’s Cultivar Portfolio
Embrapa’s Potato Genetic Improvement Program develops cultivars for different market segments, tailored to Brazil’s tropical and subtropical growing conditions.
“When we generate cultivars, we consider consumer satisfaction, through approval in the field and industry, to obtain quality products that meet different demands,” explains researcher Caroline Castro, leader of the program.
The supply of cultivars considers both fresh consumption, which advocates culinary appearance and versatility; and industrial use, which demands cultivars with characteristics that meet the needs for processing.
Over the past decade, Embrapa’s research has released four other cultivars in addition to BRS F21 (Braschips). BRS F63 (Camila), launched in 2015, is recommended for cooking and for salads and similar dishes, including gourmet preparations. In 2021, BRS F183 (Potira) was introduced with a focus on the frozen, pre-fried shoestring market. BRS F50 (Cecília), released in 2022, was developed for organic production systems. More recently, BRS Gaia (2023) brought versatility for both frying and cooking, with medium to high rusticity, and is recommended for cultivation in southern Brazil.
According to researchers, limited availability of high-quality cultivars suited to Brazil’s climate — especially those tolerant to heat — can narrow planting windows and reduce overall production capacity, while also constraining the industry’s supply of quality raw material.
The improvement work is developed in partnership between Embrapa Clima Temperado (RS) and Embrapa Hortaliças, with evaluations at the Canoinhas Experimental Stations (EECan), in Santa Catarina, and Cascata (EEC), in Pelotas. The generation of new materials also has the evaluation by partner producers and by industries from different regions of the country.
