Physiological changes of tubers during potato storage and pre-treatment measures

The factors causing tuber loss during potato storage are mainly physiological factors of the tuber itself, such as breathing, evaporation, germination, etc.; on the other hand, it is the loss caused by pests and diseases.

1. Respiratory loss of tubers Tubers absorb oxygen from the reservoir for respiration through skin pores, convert carbohydrates in tubers, release carbon dioxide, and release heat. The main factor affecting the breathing intensity is temperature, the temperature increases, the breathing is enhanced, the tubers loss increases; the respiratory strength is also affected by the maturity of the tubers, injuries and other factors, damaged, immature tubers, and germinated tubers have a strong respiration effect. Due to the respiratory loss of tubers, weight can be reduced by 6.5% to 11%.

2. Evaporation loss The water content in potato tubers is about 80% to 85%, and the loss during storage, in addition to the respiratory loss of carbohydrates through the tubers, the main weight loss is the water in the tubers.

Tuber injuries can cause a lot of water loss, and humidity in the reservoir is less than 85%, which also accelerates the evaporation of water in the tubers. In general, the water loss of tubers in the first month of storage is about 1.5% of the fresh weight, and then 0.5% to 1%.

3. Germination loss storage of tubers for more than 3 months, then the end of the dormancy period, if the storage temperature is higher than 5 ° C, it will germinate. With the increase of storage temperature and humidity, the growth rate of young shoots is accelerated, breathing is enhanced, and the carbohydrates in the tubers are converted into energy and consumed.

The weight loss of germinated potatoes in a day and night is 0.05% to 0.07%, and the tubers are heavily dehydrated and crumpled in severe cases, and the weight loss is huge. If you want to inhibit germination, one is to control the storage temperature at 2 to 4 ° C; or the use of depressants; light can slow down the growth of buds, and even inhibit the elongation of buds, the use of scattered light storage of seed potatoes is an effective method.

4. Loss caused by pests and diseases During tuber storage, a large number of rotten potatoes caused by pests and diseases are the largest losses. When the humidity is high during storage, the main pathogens causing soft rot of tubers are green blight, ring rot, late blight and black shin. When the humidity is low, the pathogens that cause dry rot are Fusarium rot, powder scab, etc.

In order to reduce the rotten potatoes caused by diseases, good ventilation conditions should be created to keep the potato skin of the tubers dry; and low temperature conditions of 3 to 4 ° C can reduce the occurrence and spread of diseases. The main pest during storage is the potato tubers moth, which causes severe damage to the tubers, stored below l0 ° C, and the activity of the tubers moth is difficult, reducing harm and loss.

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Source: 360doc Personal Library

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