Published in Scientific Papers. Series A. Agronomy, Vol. LXVIII, Issue 1
Written by Nina BĂRĂSCU, Manuela HERMEZIU, Anca-Camelia URDĂ, Lorena ADAM
The classification of potato tubers into usage types (human consumption, industrial processing, or animal feeding), in addition to factors such as variety and fertilization, can be influenced by the crop climatic conditions. Over three years of non-irrigated potato crop in Țara Bârsei - Brașov (2022-2024), the varying climatic conditions affected the culinary and technological quality parameters of potato tubers. The dry matter content, consistency, mealiness, moisture of the potato tubers, and the structure of starch granules were influenced by air temperature and precipitation levels during the growing season, as these conditions impact growth, metabolism and the accumulation of reserve substances in the tubers. The variation in these culinary quality traits of potato tubers was analyzed across the production of 12 potato varieties. The varieties were classified into the following usage types: A, AB, B, and BC. Over the three years of observations, the varieties Azaria and Ervant recorded the highest and respectively the lowest accumulation of dry matter. Careful management of environmental factors, combined with the use of well-adapted varieties, can optimize the potato quality for various usage types.
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