By SARA HOTTMAN

H&N Staff Reporter

     Potato farmers put blood, sweat, and maybe even tears into their fields every year in an effort to produce a quality product.

   So it irks them when consumers store potatoes incorrectly, causing sprouting, greening or browning.

   “It’s frustrating,” said Donnie Heaton, a Merrill-area potato farmer. “Every time I hear someone say, ‘I sure like potatoes but I don’t buy a lot because they always go bad on me,’ I think) it ain’t the product, it’s what they’re doing with it after they get it that’s the problem.

   “The potato is getting a bad rap when it’s not the potato’s fault.”

   Like all fruits and vegetables, potatoes are still alive when they are harvested, so they react to their new environment.  

   Properly stored potatoes should last 10 days to two weeks, said Brian Charlton, cropping system specialist with the OSU Klamath Basin Research and Extension Center. “When people buy 200 pounds and try to store it for the whole   winter, that’s when they get into problems.”

   Heaton said potato packagers should print on bags the cardinal rule: Store potatoes in cool, dark areas.  

Why your potatoes rot — and how you can prevent it      

H&N file photos    Donnie Heaton, top, and Dan Chin, above, both farm potatoes in the Klamath Basin and know the importance of proper storage.

 Light 

   Potatoes last longest in the dark.

   They may look pretty arranged in a bowl on the kitchen counter, but that’s setting them up to go bad, said Brian Charlton, cropping system specialist with the OSU Klamath Basin Research and Extension Center.  

   Potatoes are tubers, so their life until harvest is spent underground — the reason they have a colored skin and white interior. 

   Chlorophyll is harmless, but it’s a sign of another reaction potatoes have to light: glycoalkaloid production.

   Glycoalkaloids are toxic. Above ground portions of potatoes — the stems and leaves — contain them as a natural defense against pests. When the tuber is exposed to light, it produces them as the same defense response.

   Humans must consume a concentrated amount of glycoalkaloids to be toxic, but it’s a good idea to trim off green spots on a potato for safety as   well as flavor — glycoalkaloids taste bitter. If a large portion of a potato is green, it’s not safe to eat.

   Potatoes are packaged in tan-tinted bags to block light in the grocery store. Merrill-area producer and packager Dan Chin this year changed the packaging for his organic potatoes so a solid sheet of plastic blocks the potatoes from light.  

   Temperature

   A potato stored too warm or too cool can cause browning and sprouting. It doesn’t ruin the potato, but it doesn’t look appetizing.     

   The ideal temperature for potatoes is 40 to 42 degrees.

   When potatoes are stored in temperatures that are too cool, the white interior turns brown and will taste sweeter, a product of starches in the potato converting to sugars.

   Like all produce, storing potatoes in the refrigerator will slow decay, but it will also cause discoloration — greening as light prompts chlorophyll production and browning as cool temperatures cause starch to convert to sugar.

   Warmer temperatures cause potatoes to sprout. Potato farmer Donnie Heaton said a common mistake is storing potatoes under a sink. It’s dark, but at temperatures around 65 degrees, they’ll surely sprout.

   Farmers manipulate temperatures in their storage sheds depending on the type of potato.

   Fresh potatoes are stored between 40 and 42 degrees with humidity circulated so they stay plump.

   In Klamath Falls, grocery stores carry potatoes from Washington, Arizona and Idaho, but potatoes from 10 miles away — not 1,000 — are available from seven local producers: Wong Potatoes, Circle C Marketing, Cal-Ore Produce, Newell Potato Coop, Malin Potato Co-op, Riverside Potato, and Tulelake Potato Producers.

   The potatoes’ origin is printed on the bag.

   “As a potato grower, the first thing I do is go over to produce, check out the potatoes and see where they’re from, how they look,” Heaton said. “It’s a slap in the face to a grower to walk over and see (non-local) potatoes.”