All over the planet, potatoes are an important staple food crop. However, to maintain the quality of the tubers and increase their availability, it is necessary to store the tubers for a long time, often using industrial scale equipment. In this context, maintaining potato quality is critical for the seed, fresh and processing sectors. The industry has always innovated and invested in improved post-harvest storage. However, the rate of technological change is accelerating and will continue to accelerate. Stricter legislation and changing consumer attitudes are driving increased interest in creating alternative or complementary post-harvest treatments to traditional growth suppression and disease control chemicals. We are considering modern knowledge about the biochemical factors that determine the state of dormancy, as well as the influence of factors before and after harvest on ensuring the quality of potato tubers. In addition, the role of genomics as a future approach to improving potato quality is discussed. It is critical, thanks to more focused industry research, to understand how pre-harvest conditions affect tuber quality and the factors that determine the transition to dormancy, which should create the conditions for achieving sustainable storage.
Nature’s potato chip: The role of salty fungi in a changing world
