Acceptable chip quality based on chip color was obtained in five potato cultivars freshly harvested in August, September and October. Placing the tubers in 5 °C storage severely impaired chip quality. Reconditioning the tubers at 21 °C for 2 weeks improved chip quality in the cultivar Kennebec harvested in October and in two experimental cultivars, F5208 and F5889 harvested in September and October. Tubers of the cultivars Warba and Irish Cobbler from all harvests failed to become reconditioned satisfactorily. Preconditioning tubers at 21 °C before storing them at 5 °C and then reconditioning at 21 °C improved chip color in all cultivars. The color improved to an acceptable level in tubers of Kennebec harvested in October and of the experimental cultivars harvested in September and October. In these also, preconditioning produced good chip color when tubers were chipped directly from 5 °C storage. Tubers from all harvests of the experimental cultivar F5889, including those harvested when immature in August, chipped well from storage at 5 °C after 5 weeks of preconditioning at 21 °C.
Natural DNA variation at candidate loci is associated with potato chip color, tuber starch content, yield and starch yield
