Failure of Blighted Russet Burbank Potatoes to Produce Congenital Deformities in Rats

Summary

Pregnant rats were gavaged with massive doses of freeze-dried late blight infected Russet Burbank tuber tissue, freeze-dried early blight infected tuber tissue, or an extract of the latter containing terpenoid phytoalexins. There were no grossly detected deformities observed in over 500 offspring. The results suggest that neither early nor late blight infected Russet Burbank potatoes are teratogenic in rats at massive doses and, by extension, that the terpenoid phytoalexins likely are not either.