A gap in the domestic market is filled by the recently introduced Potato Seed Virus Nano Microsphere Immunoassay Rapid Diagnostic Kit in Western (Chongqing) Science City, which provides a method for identifying viruses in potatoes. The results of the test are available in five minutes.

“We have spent four years independently developing this series of products,” Professor Lyu Dianqiu, the head of the potato team at the Integrative Science Center of Germplasm Creation at Southwest University and the chief expert of the Chongqing Potato Industry Technology System Innovation Team, recently mentioned, cited by iChongqing.

Professor Lyu and his team have created a quick detection kit for potato viruses that uses novel nano-microsphere materials and immunological antibodies derived from biotechnology. The kit replaces standard materials and can provide test results in as little as five minutes.

The kit is especially useful for field testing, according to Professor Lyu, because it is inexpensive, very sensitive, specific, and easy to use. PVX and PVY, two of the four viral nano-simulated enzyme immunoassay kits his team has created, are ten times more sensitive than colloidal gold test strips.

He underlined that the primary source of competitive advantage for their product is its core raw materials, namely the antibodies against potato viral infections that are created using an immunological technology. The price of this product line is at least 50% less than that of similar overseas goods.

The sixth-largest potato-planting region in China, Chongqing, has historically depended on northern seed potatoes. Due to viruses and illnesses, quality assurance has been hampered by the lack of efficient detection equipment, resulting in yield losses of potatoes of 10% to 20% or more.

Potato production can be made greener and healthier by reducing disease incidences and pesticide use through the use of quick and accurate testing procedures for potato seed quality. By using this method, Chongqing’s potato seed quality is improved, increasing production and financial gains.

To date, the fast diagnosis kit has been pushed and employed in the provinces of Heilongjiang, Gansu, Hebei, Guizhou, Yunnan, and Bazhong of Sichuan; it has also been used in scientific research institutes and potato firms in Shizhu and Wuxi of Chongqing.