In Idaho, freshly harvested potatoes are in the early days of a storage season that—for some varieties—could continue through next August. At the University of Idaho, post-harvest physiologist Dr. Sanjay Gupta is sympathetic to potato producers who have potatoes that can’t immediately be sold. “The storage problem is there for a very long time…people have been struggling.”  When held at temperatures of 45 degrees Fahrenheit or higher, they won’t develop cold-induced “sweetening” —an undesirable process in which the internal sugars produce dark fries that are unacceptable to consumers. This has been a problem for the potato industry for a very long time. On the other hand at 45 degrees they’re more likely to sprout, lose moisture and develop storage-related diseases.

 So Dr. Gupta has teamed with potato breeder Dr. Richard Novy to select breeding lines for their resistance to cold-induced sweetening. Potatoes that could be stored at or below 42 degrees Fahrenheit and still fry up lightly, wouldn’t need as many sprout inhibition treatments and would be more disease resistant.