Sprouting behaviour of NAA [Naphthalene acetic acid] treated seed potato tubers after prolonged storage at low temperature

• Published in: Asian Potato Journal (Philippines) Vol. 2; no. 1
• Main Authors: Shashirekha, M.N, Ramesh, B.S, Narasimham, P. (Central Food Technological Research Inst., Mysore (India). Postharvest Technology Lab.)
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 01.06.1991
• Subjects: ACIDE NAPHTALENE ACETIQUE; ACIDO GIBERELICO; ACIDO NAFTILACETICO; ALMACENAMIENTO DE SEMILLAS; BROTACION; ETEFON; ETHEPHON; GIBBERELLINE; PAPA DE SIEMBRA; PLANT DE POMME DE TERRE; POUSSEE; SOLANUM TUBEROSUM; STOCKAGE DES SEMENCES
• ISSN: 0117-052X

The relative rates of ageing of naphthalene acetic acid (Na-salt) treated and untreated seed potato tubers during storage at 4 +- 1 deg C and RH 85-90% were assessed by their sprouting behaviour after removal from cold storage at regular intervals followed by field testing at the end of three months storage. The study revealed that (1) NAA treated tubers retained sprout growth vigour up to 9 months, while untreated tubers retained their vigour up to around 6 months; (2) post-storage dormancy breaking treatment with a mixture of gibberellic acid (GA) and ethrel (E), increased the number of sprouts and gave higher sprout weight from pre-storage NAA treated tubers from 7th month onwards, when tested either as whole or cut tubers; (3) a difference in the sprouting behaviour between the apical and lateral buds was noticed in that the lateral buds produced less number of sprouts, and weight of sprouts/piece; and (4) field testing after a 3-month storage revealed that NAA treatment did not have any adverse effects on yield from seed tubers stored at room temperature. It is concluded that better regulation of ageing of seed potato tubers during prolonged cold storage can be achieved by pre-storage, exogenous treatment with Alpha NAA followed by a post-storage treatment with a mixture of GA and E.