Impact induced mechanical damage of Agria potato tubers

Abstract

Potato variety Agria was cultivated in different fertilisation and/or irrigation regimes. Tuber damage after impact was studied two months after the harvest with aim to find some relation between the regime of cultivation and impact test tuber damage. It was found that tuber cracking and/or crushing belongs to the most frequent mechanisms of damage masking usual bruising in many cases. Most severe tuber cracking was observed for cultivation with irrigation and classical methods of fertilisation. On the other hand, bruising was most frequent in case without any irrigation and fertilisation and in cases used for fertilisation the pig slurry. In every cultivation regime the bruising was more pronounced in narrower tuber side in comparison to the wider flat side.

Keywords

• potato
• density
• stem
• bud
• cultivation regime
• impact
• bruising
• cracking
• crushing
• irrigation
• fertilisation