Practice of Protecting the Potato Stubs From Diseases and Sprouting When Storage

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.

Rapid Estimation of Potato Quality Parameters by a Portable Near-Infrared Spectroscopy Device

The aim of the present work was to determine the main quality parameters on tuber potato using a portable near-infrared spectroscopy device (MicroNIR). Potato tubers protected by the Protected Geographical Indication (PGI “Patata de Galicia”, Spain) were analyzed both using chemical methods of reference and also using the NIR methodology for the determination of important parameters for tuber commercialization, such as dry matter and reducing sugars. MicroNIR technology allows for the attainment/estimation of dry matter and reducing sugars in the warehouses by directly measuring the tubers without a chemical treatment and destruction of samples. The principal component analysis and modified partial least squares regression method were used to develop the NIR calibration model. The best determination coefficients obtained for dry matter and reducing sugars were of 0.72 and 0.55, respectively, and with acceptable standard errors of cross-validation. Near-infrared spectroscopy was established as an effective tool to obtain prediction equations of these potato quality parameters. At the same time, the efficiency of portable devices for taking instantaneous measurements of crucial quality parameters is useful for potato processors.

Effect of selection methods on seed potato quality in the following season

Most potato farmers in Indonesia select the small tubers at harvest for planting in the following season, the so-called farmers’ practice (FP). This propagation method is cheap, but the small tubers may come from less healthy plants, which increases the build-up of diseases with accelerated yield decreases over the seasons. Alternatively, farmers may identify healthy plants within the growing season and select those for propagation, the so-called positive plant selection method (PPSM). An experiment was carried out to evaluate the effects of PPSM compared to FP on yields in the following season in the two main potato growing areas of West Java, i.e., Pangalengan and Garut. Generations G2 and G3 of cv. Granola and one generation of the imported cv. Atlantic were used. Selected seeds using PPSM and FP were planted in the second season in a randomized complete block design. Results show that yields of seeds selected through PPSM were significantly higher compared to seeds selected through FP, over both locations, on average, 7.4, 5.5 and 1.2 ton ha−1 for Granola G2 and G3, and the Atlantic, respectively. These yield increases represent an increase in the gross revenue of 30.8 to 51.8 million IDR ha−1 for Granola and 1.9 to 7.8 million IDR ha−1 for Atlantic at a farm gate price of 7,000 and 6,500 IDR kg−1, respectively. This study confirms that PPSM is superior to FP and improves the quality of the farms saved seeds.

The Correlation between Soil Nutrient and Potato Quality in Loess Plateau of China Based on PLSR

Potato tuber quality is influenced by the interaction of soil nutrients. Hence, simple correlation analysis cannot accurately reflect the true relationship between soil nutrients and potato tuber quality. In this study, potato tuber quality and soil nutrient content were used as research materials in the Loess Plateau of China. The partial least square regression (PLSR) method was used to establish the regression equation between potato quality and soil nutrient. The major soil nutrient indexes influencing potato quality were screened out to provide theoretical basis for potato field management. The results showed that the major soil nutrient factors influencing the potato tuber quality in Loess Plateau were soil ammonium nitrogen, soil nitrate nitrogen, soil available phosphorus, pH, and soil available potassium. Soil pH value is the most important factor affecting potato starch, reducing sugar content, and soluble protein content. Soil nitrate nitrogen is one of the important factors affecting potato tuber soluble total sugar content, vitamin C, browning intensity, and polyphenol oxidase activity. Soil ammonium nitrogen was positively correlated with the total soluble sugar content of potato tubers, and negatively correlated with reducing sugar content, browning intensity, and polyphenol oxidase activity. However, soil available potassium has positive effects on potato starch and reducing sugar content, and negative effects on soluble protein and browning strength. Results of this study indicates that the major soil nutrient factors influencing potato tuber quality were soil nitrate nitrogen and soil pH value.