The Role of Cold Storage In Extending Potato Shelf Life
Freshly produced vegetables and fruits in Nepal such as Potatoes are likely to decay, spoil or get damaged before they reach the market because of many reasons. One reason is insufficient storage capacity which doesn't guarantee preserving nutritional value throughout a long period of time.
Here the cold storage room comes in handy. But why are big and small scale industries moving out for cold storage room facilities? Answering all your questions, this blog explores how cold storage gives potato harvesters unparalleled storage capabilities and accommodation to demands even during poor production and makes a profit with them.
Also, we’ll break down the step-by-step process of working on cold storage, the role of cold storage in extending potato shelf life, and the cost that you should keep in mind when you build cold storage in Nepal.
What is a Potato Cold Storage Room?
First, let’s understand what a potato cold storage room means. Typically, a potato cold storage room is nothing but a controlled post-harvest area for storing potato produce. They are designed to extend the shelf life of perishable potatoes by maintaining lower temperature, proper air circulation, and humidity.
Those potato cold storage rooms are a substantial investment in the long run. Its main advantage is that more than 600 kg can be stored in 1m3 volume across four separate processes. In short, the room’s temperature is adjusted between 5 to 6 degrees, and relative humidity is around 90-95%. When everything is under control, high-quality potatoes sustain up to 5 to 6 months lowering the likelihood of damage.
How Does Potato Cold Storage Work?
As you are familiar with the basics of potato cold storage, we are now taking a closer look at its working mechanism. With that said, let's begin with each of the four steps of how potato cold storage works.
1. Drying
Drying is the first step mainly for avoiding the wrinkles formed on potatoes. In the process of drying, the potato cold storage temperature is maintained at around 25 degrees and relative humidity at 85%. This step for the removal of the wetness on the outer skin of potatoes is done after washing them.In certain cases of excess dehydration, humidification is required.
2. Healing
Healing means self care of the potatoes from the wounds on the skins of tubers during harvesting, pre-moving or transport. This act completes when the bruises that appear on the potatoes when are kept at a relative humidity of 95% and temperature at 15 to 18 degrees inside the storage is healed and the crust hardens. Note that throughout this period, the increase in CO2 level should be limited to less than 0.5%.
3. Slow Cooldown
The third step is gradual cooling. As the name suggests, this process slows down the temperature of a cured potato with a slight decrease in air velocity, and at that time humidity should be 90% -95%. Slow cool down the potato cold storage temperature from 0.3 to 0.5 degrees per day to prevent weight loss.
4. Storage And Prepare For Market
The proper storage and preparing the potatoes to get market ready is the final step. It only occurs once you complete drying, healing and cooldown processes. Before relocating the healthy potatoes out of the cold storage room to the end customer, raise the temperature by one degree to prevent the chance of condensation.
Factors to Consider for Maintaining the Potato Cold Storage
By now, you have a profound understanding of the potato cold storage room and how the cold storage for potatoes works. Now, we’ll dive deeper into the key factors that’ll keep your potato cold storage in the best suited condition.
1. Temperature
Temperature affects how the potatoes turn out following harvesting. The temperature higher than 10 degrees Celsius results in higher respiration and potato tubers lose their weight. At the lowest temperature, the sweet taste appears in potatoes due to the conversion of starch to sugar.
Depending on the type of potatoes, it is a must for controlling the potato cold storage temperature. For example, for potato chips between 7 and 10 degrees, for fries 5 to 6 degrees Celsius and for potato seeds at between 4 and 5 degree is appropriate.
2. Air Movement
The potatoes have a relatively high amount of water after condensation so, to maintain the quality the ventilation level is maintained. The humidity inside the storage is scaled and put to 95%, to reduce the risk of moisture in the potatoes. In turn, it also allows carbon dioxide produced by the tubers to escape from the container.
Adding to it, correct identification and grading of potatoes stops them from disease development and transmission. For preserving the flavour, preventing Millard reaction and stopping the rotting of the potatoes, the storage area should be well ventilated.
3. Sprouting
The other factor that you need to worry about is sprouting. It occurs when the potatoes are not stored in complete darkness, or under 5 degrees. This is because experiencing sunlight even for a short period of time, leads to change in potato cold storage temperature which in turn triggers the process of sprouting.
Thus, it is important to reduce the temperature inside the cold storage to slow down the development of molds and extend the shelf life of potatoes. Plus, it's a must to keep environmental factors in mind required to avoid potatoes from sprouting, dehydration, weight loss and more.
Cost to Build Cold Storage For Potatoes In Nepal
As we already know, the importance of a well designed cold storage for potatoes and the benefits of cold storage in the long run. Many of you may have questions about the cost of overall potato cold storage and resources to build cold storage for potatoes in Nepal for all your farming needs.
The potato cold storage costs primarily depend on different factors. Following are some of the factors that bring variations in cold storage for potatoes in Nepal.
1. Manufacturing Materials
The manufacturing materials are used when developing the cold storage for potatoes. If you opt for high quality construction materials, monitoring systems and moderate insulation, the building process automatically becomes costly. With that said, it's a big decision when choosing manufacturing materials.
2. Size of the Cold Storage
One of the key factors that affect the potato cold storage cost in Nepal is the space available for cold storage. Bigger areas of storage capacity mean more numbers of labourers and construction materials for developing the location.
3. Labour Cost
The next on our list is the labour cost. It shouldn't be surprising that the charge given to labour workers affects the overall cost of cold storage. The labour cost depends on the skills, experience and payment for the workers. Higher the labour cost, you can expect better installation and a good start to cold storage facilities.
4. Transportation Cost
Besides, the labour costs and manufacturing materials, transportation also affects the overall costs when building the cold storage. Transporting raw manufacturing materials, moving the finished cold storage units to the destination falls under the logistics expenses and these significantly contribute to the potato cold storage cost.
Conclusion
Additionally, the modern potato cold storage gives traders and potato farm business owners a boost in the agro-based industry. But how is that? Potatoes are one of the consumed crops in Nepal and their demand is rising along with the rapid population growth. The prolonged storage helps match the growing market by a continuous supply of fresh potatoes.
In conclusion, one-time investment in storage facilities associated with the latest innovation provides a valuable advantage on the cost of production in the long run. With that said, managing waste and the risk of rotting is also reduced. Elevate your business in farming with cold storage in place and gain a major edge over other struggling competitors.
If you seek further insights into various aspects of cold storage rooms, do check out some of our other blogs.
Moreover, if you want the best cold storage room in Nepal, look no further than Nepcool, the leading cold storage manufacturer in Nepal. Thank you for reading till the end.
FAQs on Potato Cold Storage Room
1. Can potatoes be stored in cold storage?
Yes, potatoes can be stored in cold storage. However, there are factors like maintaining the appropriate temperature, humidity and air circulation is a must.
2. What are the storage periods for potatoes inside cold storage?
Primarily, the storage periods for potatoes inside cold storage depend on the type of potatoes whether they’re raw, cooked or not, and potato cold storage temperature. The following are the cold storage periods for potatoes.
- Raw potato at 50/100 degree F: 3-4 weeks
- Raw potato at a normal room temperature: 1-2 months
- Cooked and refrigerated : 3-4 days
- Cooked and frozen: 10/12 months
- Instant and uncooked: Many years
3. What is the best cold storage for potatoes?
The best cold storage for potatoes varies according to the temperature and potato types while storing them at cold is the best practice. Here is the breakdown for the best cold storage for potatoes.
- Raw Potato: Between 7 and 10 degree Celsius
- Fries: Between 4 and 6 degree Celsius
- Potato seeds: Between 2 and 4 degree Celsius
4. What is the longest way to store potatoes?
The longest way to store potatoes is simply storing them in cool, dark, dry places, where the potato cold storage temperature is between 45 and 55 degrees. Keep the potatoes in the kitchen cupboards, drawers, baskets, cardboard boxes or basements, to preserve the texture and freshness of potatoes for months.
5. Which vegetables can be stored in the cold storage rooms?
Besides potatoes, there are quite a lot of vegetables that are best stored in the cold storage rooms. Notably, carrots, celeriac, kohlrabi, and beets can be stored in cold storage rooms.