Potato Research

The European Association for Potato Research (EAPR) publishes a journal, Potato Research, which includes original scientific contributions on both fundamental and applied research on potatoes, review articles and topics of general interest. It also contains Association news and reports on section meetings (including abstracts of papers presented).
A volume of the Journal (usually approximately 450 pages), consists of four issues, published in the same year. Submission of manuscripts is exclusively online via a web-based electronic submission and tracking system available at https://www.editorialmanager.com/potr

EAPR Members have online access to Potato Research (use the EAPR member login page)
A list of addresses of editors of ‘Potato Research’
Contents of ‘Potato Research’ can be found at Springerlink
Instructions for authors
Any comments regarding the publication and distribution of Potato Research should be addressed to EAPR

Springer Link

https://link.springer.com/journal/11540

Latest Issues

Suppression of Sprouting and Maintenance of Postharvest Quality of Seed Potato Through Strategic Nutritional Management
28th June, 2025
Preserving potato tubers is vital for marketability and seed use. In subtropical regions, small growers store potatoes at ambient temperatures, requiring storability techniques. Applying exogenous nutrition improves tuber keeping quality. This study examined the impact of nutritional treatments on the quality and postharvest longevity of seed potatoes. Conducted in the autumn seasons of 2019–2020 and 2020–2021 at two locations in Punjab, the experiment employed a split-plot design with three organic treatments: farmyard manure (FYM) at 50 t ha−1, biofertilizer (Biof) at 10 kg ha−1, and a control. Five phosphorus levels were tested in subplots. Results indicated that FYM significantly reduced total weight loss, with values ranging from 29.4% to 41.4% at 120 days of storage, compared to higher losses in Biof and Control treatments. Sprouting losses decreased by 3.34% to 6.19% with FYM over Biof and control, achieving the lowest sprouting rates of 85.7% to 93.0%. FYM also resulted in the lowest shriveling index (3.8 to 4.2) and improved tuber dry matter and starch content, maintaining higher levels throughout storage. Total phenols were significantly elevated in FYM-treated tubers, with values of 84.7 to 90.7 mg 100 g−1, reflecting a good percentage quality improvement compared to the control. FYM and biofertilizer markedly increased total tuber yields, with FYM achieving a remarkable 30% boost compared to the control. Additionally, phosphorus levels at 125 kg ha−1 resulted in a notable 24% increase. Optimal phosphorus fertilization, particularly P200, further reduced weight loss and improved shriveling, dry matter, and starch content by similar margins. These findings suggest that FYM and optimal phosphorus fertilization can significantly enhance seed potato quality, reduce postharvest losses, and boost marketability.
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Phosphorus Application Rates with Residue Mulch Increased Dry Matter, Nutrient Accumulation, and Yield of Potato Crop
26th June, 2025
Crop residue mulch helps in better growth and yield of crops by soil moisture conservation and contributes to increased availability of nutrients under moisture deficit conditions. The experiment was conducted with residue mulch as main plot (rice straw mulch, maize stover mulch, and no mulch) and four rates of phosphorus (P) application as sub-plots (0, 40, 80, 120 kg ha−1) under split plot design. Over a two-year period, the effect of mulch and P application rate on dry matter accumulation followed an S-shaped curve, with peak values at 75 days after planting (DAP) over all the treatments. However, rice straw mulch (M1) reported 22.3% and 12.8% higher dry matter accumulation over no mulch (M0) and maize stover mulch (M2), respectively. Tuber dry matter accumulation increased linearly from 60 DAP to harvest, with M1 (5.49 t ha−1) reported higher values followed by M2 (5.07 t ha−1) and M0 (4.61 t ha−1). M1 achieved average tuber bulking rate (TBR) of 0.36 t ha⁻1 day⁻1, followed by M2 (0.34 t ha⁻1 day⁻1), and M0 (0.31 t ha⁻1 day⁻1), and it also reported 30.1 and 18.3% of higher tuber yield over M0 and M2, respectively. In comparison with M0 and P0, nutrient uptake of nitrogen (N), and phosphorus (P) was substantially higher in M1 and P120 treatments, which enhanced crop growth and yield performance. The study emphasises how mulches and increased P rates work together to improve nutrient uptake and potato yield.
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Field Evaluation of Iron, Zinc, and Calcium in Potatoes Cultivated in Moquegua, Peru: A Baseline for Assessing Their Nutritional Role in Local Diets
23rd June, 2025
Field evaluations are essential for determining the nutritional value of potatoes in their natural conditions, providing important information on nutrient levels shaped by diverse environmental and agricultural factors. This is particularly significant for rural communities that depend on this crop as their primary dietary staple and source of nutrients. This study assessed the concentrations of iron, zinc, and calcium in potatoes cultivated in Moquegua, an underexplored region in southern Peru, thus addressing a geographic gap in the nutritional profiling of potatoes across Peru’s diverse agricultural landscapes. To this end, popular potatoes from both native and modern varieties (n = 144) were harvested at elevations ranging from 58 to 3,934 m above sea level. The analysis was conducted using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). The soils associated with these varieties were also analyzed by inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES). The findings show that modern potatoes have a higher mean concentration of iron (7.858 mg/kg) and calcium (76.43 mg/kg), while native potatoes exhibit a higher concentration of zinc (3.389 mg/kg). Only moderate correlations were found among soil nutrients, as well as between iron and calcium contents in potatoes (p < 0.001). A principal component analysis (PCA) revealed that two principal components explain over 80% of the variance in both potato and soil samples across varieties. Iron is the main factor structuring micronutrient variability in potatoes, characterizing 85.4% of samples by relatively low Fe concentrations within the observed range. In soils, iron has the greatest influence on data variability for both modern and native potatoes, with zinc additionally affecting native potato soils. These findings enhance the understanding of the variability in micronutrient content and establish a baseline for future research aimed at improving the nutritional profiles of potatoes cultivated in this region, ultimately supporting local dietary needs and contributing to the assessment of the role that potatoes play in the daily diet of rural communities.
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Rhizoctonia solani Affects the Salinity Tolerance of Potato Plants by Modulating Sugar Metabolism
19th June, 2025
In the present study, the alterations in some physiological characteristics and sucrose metabolism of Desiree, Granola, Lady Claire, and Russet Burbank potato cultivars that react differently to salt stress and Rhizoctonia solani were evaluated. The potato cultivars were challenged with 5 dS m−1 NaCl, R. solani and their combination in a pot experiment. Preferably, fully developed leaves, third from the apex, were collected at 15-day intervals. Tuber skin and tuber flesh samples were taken from fully mature tubers showing varietal characteristics. Lady Claire and Russet Burbank cultivars had the highest and lowest leaf cell-membrane injury rates, respectively. The imposed stresses generally increased the total and reduced sugar and sucrose contents of leaves compared to the control. The R. solani and R. solani + NaCl treatments caused an increase in the starch content in cvs. Desiree and Lady Claire and a reduction in Granola and Russet Burbank compared to the control treatment. The invertases were expressed at higher levels, notably during the tuber initiation and bulking stages. The expression of the leaf InvGF gene increased 11.73-fold in cv. Lady Claire, followed by cvs. Desiree, Granola, and Russet Burbank by 7.23-fold, 5.77-fold, and 5.51-fold increases, respectively, compared to the control. Lady Claire and Desiree cultivars were determined to be the cultivars with the highest relative gene expression levels in tuber tissues. Consequently, the invertases are thought to play a more important role in the tolerance of the R. solani + NaCl stress combination than sucrose synthase. Additionally, the leaf tissues were more sensitive than the tuber tissues.
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Low-Carbon Footprint Organo-Mineral Fertilizer Increases Potato Yield, Nitrogen Uptake, and Soil Nutrient Levels Comparable to Conventional Fertilizer
19th June, 2025
With global agriculture facing pressure to reduce synthetic inputs while maintaining productivity, developing sustainable fertilizers is critical for staple crops like potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) Here, for the first time, we compared the efficacy of a novel carbon-capture and N-rich organo-mineral fertilizer (CCOMF) to standard mineral N fertilizer (NH4NO3) rates of 140 kg ha−1, half rate of 70 kg ha−1, and their interaction with two arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungal inocula on potato growth, yield, N uptake, and soil nutrient availability in a fully factorial design greenhouse trial. Results showed no significant fertilizer × AM fungal interaction on agronomic parameters, likely due to poor AM establishment and low root colonization (2% ± 0.3). CCOMF performed similarly to mineral N fertilizer, increasing potato total tuber yield (20%) and plant N uptake (59%) compared with unfertilized control but had no significant increment on marketable tuber. CCOMF stabilized soil organic matter (SOM) at 3.15%, comparable to baseline levels, while standard N fertilizer decreased SOM by 10%, although not statistically significant. These findings support CCOMF as a viable alternative to conventional fertilizers, warranting field-scale trials to validate long-term agronomic and soil health benefits under diverse environmental conditions.
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Latest Issues

Suppression of Sprouting and Maintenance of Postharvest Quality of Seed Potato Through Strategic Nutritional Management

Phosphorus Application Rates with Residue Mulch Increased Dry Matter, Nutrient Accumulation, and Yield of Potato Crop

Field Evaluation of Iron, Zinc, and Calcium in Potatoes Cultivated in Moquegua, Peru: A Baseline for Assessing Their Nutritional Role in Local Diets

Rhizoctonia solani Affects the Salinity Tolerance of Potato Plants by Modulating Sugar Metabolism

Low-Carbon Footprint Organo-Mineral Fertilizer Increases Potato Yield, Nitrogen Uptake, and Soil Nutrient Levels Comparable to Conventional Fertilizer

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