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Fusarium dry rot development
due to a shatter bruise
mesh-bagged potatoes, and the second
for the diluted iodine solution. The
iodine solution is mixed with water to
produce various concentrations; the ratio
will determine how much time tubers
need to soak to discolor shatter bruises.
A 1:1 ratio of iodine solution to water)
may take 30 minutes to color, whereas
a more diluted solution (1:9 ratio) may
take up to an hour. Soak the sample bags
in the diluted iodine solution for the
appropriate amount of time.
After soaking, rinse potatoes with
water, then evaluate and/or count the
number of shatter bruises per potato or
sample. Potatoes do not need to be peeled
to see the shatter bruise colored blue. It is
recommended to use gloves and dispose
of the solution as you would other
pesticides. The iodine solution can be
reused if kept clean and covered. Tubers
that have been soaked in the solution
should be discarded.
An important key to maintaining
potato quality in storage is minimizing
shatter bruising at harvest. There are
many factors involved in shatter bruise
development: cultivar susceptibility,
low pulp temperatures, high potato
turgidity or hydration, and the impact
force. Having knowledge of the crops'
shatter bruise level can give you time
to alter conditions or equipment to
reduce bruising and to manage storage
conditions to mitigate quality issues.
Nora Olsen, Andrew Hollhingshead and
Mike Thornton are all potato specialists
with the University of Idaho Extension
system. They can be contacted, respectively,
at norao@uidaho.edu, akhollingshead@
uidaho.edu, and miket@uidaho.edu.
