Yield, Tuber Quality and Weight Losses During Storage of Ten Potato Cultivars Grown at Three Sites in Serbia

Abstract

Ten potato cultivars were grown at three sites in Serbia (Sombor, Cacak and Guca) in 2001 and 2002 to examine their yield and post-harvest changes during long-term storage at 3–4 °C without controlled air humidity. In the post-harvest study, tuber dry matter (DM) concentration, starch concentration in the DM and weight loss were assessed at harvest, after 2 months and after 7 months of storage. The highest yields were obtained at Cacak where large tubers were formed, while random variations were recorded within cultivars. Results showed that all cultivars gave good yields; all cultivars also produced tubers with DM concentration >19%, except for the cultivars Jaerla and Condor. Cultivars with higher tuber DM concentration maintained it >19% after 7 months of storage. The consistent increase in tuber DM concentration during storage suggested that relative losses of water caused by transpiration were higher than the relative losses of DM caused by respiration. The effect of site on the initial concentration of starch in the DM was not significant, whereas the starch concentration decreased over the whole storage period. Late cultivars had the highest starch concentration in the tuber DM. Frisia, Red Star and Agria showed consistent low weight loss during storage.