Size and temperature characteristics of potatoes help predict injury following impact collisions

Potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) production in Victoria, Australia is an important horticultural industry. Tuber quality is maintained by avoiding injuries during harvest and subsequent handling. This study examined characteristics of both tubers and handling techniques that effect surface injury response to impact. Laboratory drop tests subjected cultivar 'Atlantic' to impacts ranging between 1.47 and 3.92 km/s 2 and examined effects of small (120 ± 5 g) and large (262 ± 15 g) tuber mass, and core temperatures of 7°C, 12°C and 20°C, on the development of surface injury. Larger tuber mass, colder temperature and impacts over 1.96 km/s 2 generally contributed to surface injuries of larger diameter. Tuber surface injury regression models were successfully used to estimate conditional probability of tuber injury on the worst impact sites on grading lines. Two assessed lines had the potential to damage over 5% of the crop if potato tubers were cold (7°C) and large.