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Name: Ryan
Status: other
Grade: other
Location: Outside U.S.
Country: Malta
Date: Summer 2009
Question:
In my country potatoes are gathered and sold inside sacks contrary to all other fruits and vegetables that are kept in markets and in shops in green plastic type boxes. Therefore my question is: Is there any purpose for potatoes being sealed in potato sacks and not in boxes? maybe to avoid humidity or tube growing or something like that?


Replies:
Potatoes are tubers and they tend to sprout. So the sacks limit light to the potato tubers to prevent sprouting. The sacks provide ventilation to minimize molding.

http://www.fao.org/docrep/X5415E/x5415e03.htm

Sincerely,

Anthony Brach, PhD
Missouri Botanical Garden
c/o Harvard University Herbaria

The difference between potato and other fruits and vegetables is that potato tubers are in a state of dormancy. The different storage conditions likely reflect that difference.

Jim Tokuhisa
Assistant Professor of Horticulture
Virginia Tech


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