Fruit & Vegetable Magazine

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ND scientists help improve potato storage

May 19, 2010  By Fruit & Vegetable


May 6, 2010, Fargo, ND –
Scientists in North Dakota are evaluating the storage properties of promising
new potato varieties that could greatly improve potato quality for growers.



May 6, 2010, Fargo, ND –
Scientists in North Dakota are evaluating the storage properties of promising
new potato varieties that could greatly improve potato quality for growers.

Seventy per cent of all
potatoes in the U.S. are processed into chips, French fries and dehydrated
potato flakes. Maintaining adequate potato storage quality for processing — in
some cases, up to 10 months — is vital to potato producers and processors.

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Jeff Suttle, research
leader at the ARS Sugarbeet and Potato Research Unit in Fargo, ND, and food
technologist Marty Glynn, at Fargo's work site in East Grand Forks, are working
with the Northern Plains Potato Growers Association and public potato breeding
programs throughout the U.S. to evaluate the storage properties of new potato
varieties.

Their evaluations of the
new varieties over the past year have led to the development of two named
cultivars, Dakota Crisp and Dakota Diamond, which fare well even after nine
months of storage.

Wound healing and sprout
control are both major issues for potato storage managers. Potatoes are
sometimes damaged during harvest and must heal in order to prevent infection by
other pathogens. The internal processes that control wound healing are being
determined in studies by ARS chemist Ed Lulai in Fargo. Lulai has identified
hormonal signals that stimulate the healing process.

When potatoes are
harvested, they’re dormant and don’t sprout. During storage, dormancy ends and
sprout growth commences. Sprouting results in numerous biochemical changes that
are detrimental to the nutritional and processing qualities of potatoes. Post
harvest sprouting is typically controlled during storage with chemicals that
inhibit the process.

The long-term goal of
Suttle’s program is to find less costly, nonchemical solutions to the problem
by identifying the genetic cause for these early-sprouting tubers. The
researchers have identified internal mechanisms that signal sprouts to grow,
and they are currently isolating the genes responsible for these signals.

Read more about this
research in the May/June 2010 issue of Agricultural Research magazine.


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