It was bred by Wilford Mills of Pennsylvania State University in collaboration with the Wise Potato Chip Company.
[1][3] It was selected for its high specific gravity (percentage dry matter) and low sugar content which made it ideal for producing potato chips[1] but it was also immune to potato virus A and resistant to common strains of late blight.
When the same occurred next time he ate them, he sent a sample to be analysed by a vegetable biochemist, Dr. Ambrose Zitnak of the University of Guelph, who found they contained exceptionally high levels of glycoalkaloids (mainly solanine and chaconine), the natural toxins found in potatoes that help protect them from pests and disease.
[11] Lenape is a parent of chipping varieties including Atlantic, Trent, Belchip and Snowden and a grandparent of several others.
[12] A study published in 1998 found that Lenape had the highest dry matter content of chipping varieties released in the USA and concluded that the release of Lenape marked a "major advance in chipping quality" and was particularly responsible for a trend of increased dry matter content in newer varieties.