Keeping the potatoes - the right temperature, why potatoes turn black inside while storing
Storage of harvested crops in winter is not a problemlungs. Vegetables gradually deteriorate, rot and black, dry or wilt, bugs and other parasites are planted in them. And even if you do not earn on selling grown vegetables, but simply provide your family with natural products, it is all the more important to know about the conditions of their proper storage in the winter. In this article we will tell you all the most necessary information about temperature and other potato storage rules, and also give a short reference about the frequent mistakes of a beginner trucker.
The first rule is - what types of potatoes can be stored in the winter?
The first mistake, which is often admittedbeginners truckers - storage of early maturing varieties of potatoes. Of course, I want to preserve the excellent taste of the product and savor the vegetables grown in love in winter, but early varieties can not be stored for a long time. As early as November, early-maturing potatoes begin to germinate, quickly fade and lose their flavor, however, like a normal appearance.
Thus, medium and late potato varieties are suitable for long winter storage. It perfectly preserves the taste and does not deteriorate for long.
Quality potatoes - the second rule of successful wintering
Like any other vegetable, potatoes for long-term storage should be of good quality.
Here are some recommendations:
Before laying the potatoes for the winter, never wash it and be sure to dry it properly.
Select the healthy tubers that are not damaged by the parasites - all the small things, and also the frozen, damaged or sick vegetable gather in a separate place.
In addition, the potatoes selected for wintering should also be sorted out - large tubers will winter separately from smaller ones.
Remove ground and other impurities from the tubers.
Before sending the potatoes for wintering, collectedThe crop should be kept for one to three weeks in a cool (10-20 degrees) and well ventilated room. During this period, free access to oxygen is very important, because some time after harvesting the tubers produce heat, and if you immediately assemble the crop in one heap, a steam bath is formed inside it, which will lead to decay of the product.
After all these steps, vegetables can safely be sent to winter.
Keeping potatoes - the third rule: take the vegetables straight to the storehouse
Even if you were sent for wintering completelyhealthy and not damaged vegetable, during the whole winter it needs to be sorted and reconsidered. Incorrect temperatures, mice penetrating the vault, small flies - all this can lead to the beginning of rotting vegetables.
If you have not noticed at first sight rottentubers, but felt an unpleasant smell - be sure to go through the whole harvest. Finding the decaying tubers, remove them together with those to which the spoiled potatoes were snug.
Sprouted the same tubers should be cleaned from the sprouts, and green - cut, or not at all to eat.
Note! If the potatoes began to germinate, immediately removesprouts, and if possible do not eat sprouted tubers. If the shoots are not removed, poisonous solanine accumulates in the vegetable, a substance that causes nausea, vomiting, heaviness in the stomach, and loose stool in large doses. In addition, poisoning manifests itself in severe breathing, uneven heart rate, loss of orientation and even an increase in body temperature of a person. It should be noted right away that solanine in small doses - with the proper storage of potatoes and during the ripening period of the root crop - serves as a natural protection of the vegetable from the parasites. As for the green color of the tubers, it is chlorophyll, which promotes photosynthesis. And although in itself this substance is not harmful, but rather beneficial, but under the influence of light, the root crop is not just green from chlorophyll, but gives a bell that the amount of solanine in the tubers is also increasing. So, such a vegetable is not suitable for food.
Potato storage temperature and humidity are the rule of the fourth
The storage conditions for potatoes assume not only a high-quality vegetable, but also a correct temperature regime.
The first thing to remember is the tubers eitherotherwise they are living organisms, and they know how to breathe. The higher the air temperature in the storage, the more intensive this process becomes. The result of storage of root vegetables in rooms with elevated temperatures is flabby, sluggish and often sprouted vegetable, unfit for consumption.
Optimum temperature for long-term storagepotato harvest - 2-3 degrees above zero. In principle, table potatoes are well kept and at 4-6 degrees. The ideal humidity is 85-90%.
Low temperatures lead to active production of sugar in potatoes, and frozen tubers have a nasty taste. High temperatures also lead to rapid deterioration of the vegetable.
Why potatoes turn black inside during storage
Blackened tubers - the gardener's misfortune. And this is the result of improper storage of the crop.
Here are a few reasons why potatoes turn black inside during long-term storage:
Poor ventilation in the storage - tubers suffocatefrom accumulated carbon dioxide and moisture. The same applies to the height of the bins - do not pour a crop height of more than 1.5 meters, otherwise a lot of carbon dioxide will accumulate inside the pile, and the potatoes will begin to turn black.
Undercooling vegetables, a sharp drop in storage temperature, and cleaning potatoes in cold weather.
A rapid darkening of the potato canto testify that nitrogen fertilizers were used as a fertilizer. And as you probably know, the excess of nitrates in food is harmful to humans.
Damage to the tubers, which could appear at the time of harvest. It is in these three weeks, when the potato dries before shipment for the winter, and heal the wounds he has received.
Potassium deficiency in the soil where the vegetable grew. Potassium fertilizers that do not contain chlorine will help to help them enrich the soil during the active growth of potatoes.
Here are such simple secrets of long-term storage of potato harvest in winter. Follow these simple rules - and let your potatoes be the most delicious!
