POTATO TUBERS QUALITY AS AFFECTED BY MODIFIED ATMOSPHERIC CONDITIONS AND PACKAGE TYPE DURING STORAGE

Abstract

The main aim of this study is to investigate the effect of modified atmospheric conditions and package type on the quality of potato tubers during storage. To achieve that, the effects of storage temperatures (6 and 23°C), types of packages (net and polyethylene) and number of holes perforated (2, 4 and 6 holes) on the weight loss, decay, sprouting, firmness, TSS, respiration rate and gas composition were studied. The accumulated weight losses were 64.64 and 5.98 % after 120 day of storage period for potato tubers packed in net package at 23 and 6 °C storage temperature, respectively. The highest values of the decay and sprouting percentage of potato tubers (25.46 and 100%) were found with the net package at 23 °C storage temperature. The highest value of the firmness of potato tubers was 5.26 % after 120 day of storage period for potato tubers packed in non-perforated package at 6 °C storage temperature. The TSS of potato tubers was decreased from 6.07 to 5.55 and 6.59 to 6.25 %, when the number of holes increased from 2 to 6 holes, respectively after 60 day of storage period at 6 and 23 °C storage temperature. The highest value of respiration rate and CO2 concentration were 5.03 mL kg-1 h-1 and 6.50%, after 60 day for potato tubers packed in non-perforated package at 23 °C storage temperature. The highest value of O2 concentration was 17.80 %, after 30 day for potato tubers packed in non-perforated package at 6 °C storage temperature.