Long-Term Storage Effects on the Physical Properties of the Potato
2013
Golmohammadi, Abdollah | Afkari-Sayyah, Amir H.
Determination of physical properties of agricultural products, such as the potato, and their variations during long-term storage, is an important feature in achieving high product quality and consumer acceptance. Physical properties of potatoes (Agria, Satina, and Caesar cultivars), including surface area, volume, moisture content, weight, and three main diameters of tuber, were measured and then other properties, such as sphericity, roundness, geometric mean diameter, volume mean diameter, aspect ratio, effective diameter, and real density during storage time, were calculated. The measurements were done every 15 days for a period of 22 weeks and analyzed based on a completely randomized block design in ten replications. Significant differences were observed among three potato cultivars according to major diameter, shape characteristics, mass, volume, and surface area of tubers. In this relation, Satina was larger in size compared to the two other cultivars. However, the Agria cultivar was closer to a sphere in shape. Also, it was found that the surface area of each potato could be estimated based on its mass and volume by a power law equation with a high coefficient of determination. According to the results, real density of tubers increased as a function of storage time based on a polynomial equation with R ² = 0.99. During storage time, moisture content of tubers decreased according to a linear model and was probably the major rationale for decrease in tuber size. Density, size, and moisture content are the major physical characteristics of potato tubers, which change dramatically during long-term storage. Considerable differences in physical properties of different cultivars persuade researchers to carry out further studies on other popular potato cultivars.
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