Identification of potato varieties suitable for cold storage and reconditioning: A safer alternative to anti-sprouting chemicals for potato sprouting control.

peer reviewedLow temperature storage as an alternative to anti-sprouting chemicals in potato storage may induce reducing sugars (RS) accumulation (i.e. glucose and fructose) in potato tubers. This phenomenon is called "cold induced sweetening" (CIS) and occurs in certain varieties. CIS leads to a decrease in the organoleptic qualities and darkening of processed potato and the accumulation of toxic molecules such as acrylamide. To identify potato varieties suitable for storage at low temperatures, we screened six commercial processing varieties: Lady Claire (LC), Verdi, Kiebitz (KB), Pirol, Agria and Markies for their CIS characteristics and sprout-forming potential after storage at 4 °C and 8 °C. Our findings reveal that 4 °C storage allows for efficient sprout reduction in all six tested varieties for up to 4.5 months of storage. Three CIS-resistant varieties, namely Verdi, Lady Claire and Kiebitz, were identified as able to be stored for up to four months at 4 °C with limited increase in glucose content. Conversely, Pirol, Agria and Markies showed an increase in glucose content with a decrease in storage temperature and can be considered as CIS-susceptible varieties. After processing into crisps, the CIS-susceptible varieties displayed poor crisp color quality (brown to black color crisps) after storage for two months at 4 °C compared to the storage at 8 °C, whereas the CIS-resistant varieties had good crisp color quality (pale yellow color crisps) after storage at both 4 and 8 °C. Interestingly, the trends of total RS and/or glucose content in the CIS-resistant and in the CIS-susceptible varieties were correlated with the trends in Vacuolar Invertase (VInv) gene expression for most varieties, as well as with the trends in acrylamide content after processing. In addition, reconditioning of Markies variety after storage at 4 °C by gradually increasing the temperature to 15 °C resulted in a significant decrease of VInv transcript levels (reduction of 80 %), acrylamide content (reduction of 75 %) and glucose content when compared to a storage at 4 °C without reconditioning. Those results demonstrate that the reconditioning technique is a key factor for a sustainable potato storage and for improving the quality of processed potatoes

Economic Impact of Potato Virus Y (PVY) in Europe

International audienceAs the fourth most prevalent food crop, potato is very important in the global economy, but it is affected by numerous pests, and by many bacterial, viral and fungal diseases. Among these diseases, potato virus Y (PVY), which is transmitted from plant to plant by aphids, causes significant yield losses, but as far as we know, the economic impact of PVY in Europe has not been quantified. Our economic study covers a period of 13 years between 2004 and 2017 and is based on an analysis of statistical, economic and agronomic data, obtained from various stakeholders in the potato sector in Switzerland and the European Union, as well as from field experiments. In Switzerland, the economic loss due to PVY for seed and ware production was estimated at about 2000 and 200 CHF/ha, respectively. For the European Union, the annual losses were estimated at 187 M EUR, respectively 96 and 91 M EUR for seed and ware. These losses were due mainly to the cost of chemical treatments applied in seed potato production and the yield drop in ware potato production. However, based on literature, these significant losses are lower than those caused by potato late blight (Phytophthora infestans), which is considered to be the most economically damaging potato disease in Europe