How Long Do Potatoes Last? Tips To Keep Them Fresh

About Potato and How Long Do Potatoes Last:

The potato is a starchy tuber of the plant Solanum tuberosum and is a root vegetable native to the Americas, with the plant itself being a perennial in the nightshade family Solanaceae.

Wild potato species, originating in modern-day Peru, can be found throughout the Americas, from Canada to southern Chile. The potato was originally believed to have been domesticated by Native Americans independently in multiple locations, but later genetic testing of the wide variety of cultivars and wild species traced a single origin for potatoes, in the area of present-day southern Peru and extreme northwestern Bolivia. Potatoes were domesticated approximately 7,000–10,000 years ago there, from a species in the Solanum brevicaule complex. In the Andes region of South America, where the species is indigenous, some close relatives of the potato are cultivated.

Potatoes were introduced to Europe from the Americas in the second half of the 16th century by the Spanish. Today they are a staple food in many parts of the world and an integral part of much of the world’s food supply. As of 2014, potatoes were the world’s fourth-largest food crop after maize (corn), wheat, and rice. Following millennia of selective breeding, there are now over 5,000 different types of potatoes. (How Long Do Potatoes Last)

Over 99% of presently cultivated potatoes worldwide descended from varieties that originated in the lowlands of south-central Chile. The importance of the potato as a food source and culinary ingredient varies by region and is still changing. It remains an essential crop in Europe, especially Northern and Eastern Europe, where per capita production is still the highest in the world, while the most rapid expansion in production over the past few decades has occurred in southern and eastern Asia, with China and India leading the world in overall production as of 2018.

Like the tomato, the potato is a nightshade in the genus Solanum, and the vegetative and fruiting parts of the potato contain the toxin solanine which is dangerous for human consumption. Normal potato tubers that have been grown and stored properly produce glycoalkaloids in amounts small enough to be negligible to human health, but if green sections of the plant (namely sprouts and skins) are exposed to light, the tuber can accumulate a high enough concentration of glycoalkaloids to affect human health.

Etymology

The English word potato comes from Spanish patata (the name used in Spain). The Royal Spanish Academy says the Spanish word is a hybrid of the Taíno batata (‘sweet potato‘) and the Quechua papa (‘potato’). The name originally referred to the sweet potato although the two plants are not closely related. The 16th-century English herbalist John Gerard referred to sweet potatoes as common potatoes, and used the terms bastard potatoes and Virginia potatoes for the species we now call potato. In many of the chronicles detailing agriculture and plants, no distinction is made between the two. Potatoes are occasionally referred to as Irish potatoes or white potatoes in the United States, to distinguish them from sweet potatoes.

The name spud for a potato comes from the digging of soil (or a hole) prior to the planting of potatoes. The word has an unknown origin and was originally (c. 1440) used as a term for a short knife or dagger, probably related to the Latin spad- a word root meaning “sword”; compare Spanish espada, English “spade”, and spadroon. It subsequently transferred over to a variety of digging tools. Around 1845, the name transferred to the tuber itself, the first record of this usage being in New Zealand English. 

The origin of the word spud has erroneously been attributed to an 18th-century activist group dedicated to keeping the potato out of Britain, calling itself the Society for the Prevention of Unwholesome Diet. It was Mario Pei‘s 1949 The Story of Language that can be blamed for the word’s false origin. Pei writes, “the potato, for its part, was in disrepute some centuries ago. Some Englishmen who did not fancy potatoes formed a Society for the Prevention of Unwholesome Diet. The initials of the main words in this title gave rise to spud.” Like most other pre-20th century acronymic origins, this is false, and there is no evidence that a Society for the Prevention of Unwholesome Diet ever existed.

At least six languages (Afrikaans, Dutch, French, Hebrew, Persian and some variants of German) are known to use a term for “potato” that translates roughly (or literally) into English as “earth apple” or “ground apple”.

Characteristics

Potato plants are herbaceous perennials that grow about 60 cm (24 in) high, depending on variety, with the leaves dying back after flowering, fruiting and tuber formation. They bear white, pink, red, blue, or purple flowers with yellow stamens. Potatoes are mostly cross-pollinated by insects such as bumblebees, which carry pollen from other potato plants, though a substantial amount of self-fertilizing occurs as well. Tubers form in response to decreasing day length, although this tendency has been minimized in commercial varieties.

After flowering, potato plants produce small green fruits that resemble green cherry tomatoes, each containing about 300 seeds. Like all parts of the plant except the tubers, the fruit contain the toxic alkaloid solanine and are therefore unsuitable for consumption.

All new potato varieties are grown from seeds, also called “true potato seed”, “TPS” or “botanical seed” to distinguish it from seed tubers. New varieties grown from seed can be propagated vegetatively by planting tubers, pieces of tubers cut to include at least one or two eyes, or cuttings, a practice used in greenhouses for the production of healthy seed tubers. Plants propagated from tubers are clones of the parent, whereas those propagated from seed produce a range of different varieties.

History

The potato was first domesticated in the region of modern-day southern Peru and northwestern Bolivia by pre-Columbian farmers, around Lake Titicaca. It has since spread around the world and become a staple crop in many countries.

The earliest archaeologically verified potato tuber remains have been found at the coastal site of Ancon (central Peru), dating to 2500 BC. The most widely cultivated variety, Solanum tuberosum tuberosum, is indigenous to the Chiloé Archipelago, and has been cultivated by the local indigenous people since before the Spanish conquest.

According to conservative estimates, the introduction of the potato was responsible for a quarter of the growth in Old World population and urbanization between 1700 and 1900. In the Altiplano, potatoes provided the principal energy source for the Inca civilization, its predecessors, and its Spanish successor. Following the Spanish conquest of the Inca Empire, the Spanish introduced the potato to Europe in the second half of the 16th century, part of the Columbian exchange.

The staple was subsequently conveyed by European (possibly including Russian) mariners to territories and ports throughout the world, especially their colonies. The potato was slow to be adopted by European and colonial farmers, but after 1750 it became an important food staple and field crop and played a major role in the European 19th century population boom. However, lack of genetic diversity, due to the very limited number of varieties initially introduced, left the crop vulnerable to disease.

In 1845, a plant disease known as late blight, caused by the fungus-like oomycete Phytophthora infestans, spread rapidly through the poorer communities of western Ireland as well as parts of the Scottish Highlands, resulting in the crop failures that led to the Great Irish Famine. Thousands of varieties still persist in the Andes however, where over 100 cultivars might be found in a single valley, and a dozen or more might be maintained by a single agricultural household. (How Long Do Potatoes Last)

Whether you’re having dinner at a nearby restaurant, driving into your favorite fast food, or enjoying a snack with tea, you’ll see potatoes everywhere – baked, mashed, boiled, fried, hash brown, or whatever. (How Long Do Potatoes Last)

Potatoes, which are rich in carbohydrates and low in fat, are one of the most accessible energy sources today.

But like any other food item, whether fruit or vegetable, it tends to spoil.

And that’s what the blog is about.

So let’s give it a chance. (How Long Do Potatoes Last)

How to Tell If potatoes Have Gone Bad?

It’s pretty common to buy potatoes and store them in your pantry for a while, and once you’re ready to use them, you realize they’re not at all suitable. It means they went bad. So how do we know if the potatoes are spoiled? (How Long Do Potatoes Last)

The following markings can help you identify potatoes that are unsuitable for immediate use or purchase.

• GREEN DOTS. It is often the first sign that potatoes are going bad. It indicates the presence of a toxin due to the increase of the chemical substance called Solaline in it. (How Long Do Potatoes Last)

• CASTING IN MOLD. Moldy spots on potatoes are more serious than green spots. It’s caused by bruises they get during harvest or shipping and is called fusarium. Such potatoes should not be eaten, they should be thrown away so that they can be preserved together with healthy ones. (How Long Do Potatoes Last)

• GROWING. Sprouts are a type of root that begins to grow in potatoes. If you throw it into moist soil, it will grow into a plant. The process is called germination. But you can still use that potato by peeling that sprout. (How Long Do Potatoes Last)

DO YOU KNOW?

One of the leading causes of the Great Famine in Ireland between 1845 and 1852 was a potato disease known as Potato Blight. This shortage of potatoes led to the death of around 1 million people who were dependent on them as a food source.

Shelf Life of Potatoes

Whether you run a vegetable shop or just a housewife, you want to keep potatoes good for as long as possible. However, since the shelf life of potatoes is not that long, some care must be taken to ensure longevity. (How Long Do Potatoes Last)

Let’s see how long the potatoes last on the counter before they spoil. (How Long Do Potatoes Last)

i. How Long Do Potatoes Last In The Freezer?

Freezing raw potatoes is not recommended due to the high water content. This way they change color and taste extremely bad if thawed before cooking. (How Long Do Potatoes Last)

When a raw potato is frozen, the molecular structure inside breaks down, making them mushy and unusable when thawed.

However, it can last 6-8 months in the freezer by cutting it into slices and removing the natural juice by any method, such as half-frying.

Freezing mashed potatoes is easy. Make equal parts of the mashed potatoes and place them on the baking tray. Store this in the freezer overnight. Now, put these parts in a zip-top bag. Surprisingly, these mashed potatoes will last for two months. (How Long Do Potatoes Last)

ii. How Long Do Potatoes Last In The Refrigerator/Fridge?

It is quite normal to buy a lot of vegetables from the grocery store and want to keep them fresh for a long time and throw them in your fridge. (How Long Do Potatoes Last)

This is normal; it is useful. But in some cases, it’s not a good idea, as with potatoes.

Refrigerating the potatoes spoils the taste. Cold temperature turns potato starch into sugar faster than normal temperature and therefore tastes bad when cooked.

On the other hand, refrigerating potatoes poses another danger. Storing potatoes in the refrigerator turns their starch into sugar. When exposed to high temperatures during frying or baking, the amino acid in it reacts with the sugar, causing a harmful chemical called acrylamide to form.

Research studies have classified Acrylamide among carcinogens (cancer-causing).

Subject to the above warning, any type of raw potato such as White, Red, Yukon Gold or Sweet potatoes can last 2-3 weeks in the refrigerator.

On the other hand, grated potatoes or french fries can only last 1-2 days in the refrigerator.

Baked and baked potatoes can last 5-7 days in the refrigerator, and mashed potatoes only 3-4 days. (How Long Do Potatoes Last)

iii. How Long Do Potatoes Last In The Pantry/Room Temperature?

You’re probably wondering how long it takes for both cooked and uncooked potatoes to be refrigerated. Well, that’s how most storage happens. Potatoes are best stored in the pantry if the room temperature is not as high as in extreme summer. (How Long Do Potatoes Last)

Regardless of your type of potato, such as White, Red, Sweet or Yukon Gold, they can survive for approximately 2-3 months if the temperature is slightly warmer than the refrigerator and colder than normal room temperature. 50-60°F – ideal for storage.

Quite interestingly sliced, baked or mashed potatoes won’t last longer than a few hours at room temperature if it’s hot outside.

Here’s a question about how long a potato salad lasts? In the potato salad recipe, not only potatoes, but also mayonnaise, eggs, vinegar, onions, mustard and other ingredients are added. In other words, since it is a mixture, it can last 2-3 hours at room temperature and 3-5 days if stored in the refrigerator. (How Long Do Potatoes Last)

Best Ways to Store Potatoes For a Long Time

i. Place in Slightly Cool Place

A study concluded that storing potatoes in slightly cold temperatures increases its shelf life more than four times. (How Long Do Potatoes Last)

Slightly warmer than refrigerator means temperature that is cooler than room temperature. Because at room temperature, sprouts begin to form, which is the first sign of deterioration. The ideal temperature is between 6-10 °C.

According to a research, the phenolic content and antioxidant activity of potatoes remain higher in cold storage at mild temperatures, even higher than at the harvest time. (How Long Do Potatoes Last)

ii. Keep Them in Low Indirect Light

One of the traditional methods of storing potatoes was to store them in the dark. Storing in the dark prevents them from turning green but causes excessive sprouting, especially in hot, lowland and coastal areas. (How Long Do Potatoes Last)

A modern method developed by the International Potato Center in Peru was Diffused Light (indirect) with proper ventilation. In this method, the potatoes are placed in thin layers where indirect light and air can easily reach them.

So the next time you buy more potatoes and want to store them for future days, store them in your pantry, in an airy container where the temperature is neither too high nor too low, and where humidity is the least. Because without proper ventilation, the moisture they release will allow bacteria to grow. (How Long Do Potatoes Last)

iii. Don’t Wash Unless You’re Ready to Use it

One of the mistakes moms often make is to wash the potatoes as soon as they arrive in our pantry because they look pretty muddy. Although washing removes most pesticide residues from vegetables, this is a misconception. (How Long Do Potatoes Last)

It is better to clean it with a dry cloth rather than keeping it close to water. Otherwise, the water will cause the fungus to grow immediately after storage. (How Long Do Potatoes Last)

iv. Keep it Separated from Other Food

Remember when your mom asked you not to put apples in the fridge? Why? Because apples release ethylene gas, which mixes with other dishes and creates a strange taste in them. (How Long Do Potatoes Last)

Similarly, when storing potatoes, it is better not to put them next to the onions, and fruits such as apples or sprouts will begin to form.

In other words, it is not recommended to store near ripe fruits and vegetables. (How Long Do Potatoes Last)

Nutrient Facts of Potatoes

Following is a bird’s eye view of the nutrient present in Potatoes

Nutrients Lost in Storage, Cooking and Processing Potatoes

i. Does Storage Affect the Nutrient Value of Potatoes?

The highest amount of nutrients is found in freshly harvested potatoes that are cooked without the skin. (How Long Do Potatoes Last)

Storage tends to increase the Pyridoxine concentration. If you’re preparing it at home in your kitchen, stored potatoes should ideally be boiled or steamed to allow them to retain the maximum amount of Vitamins.

Storage caused the potatoes to lose 50% of their ascorbic acid (vitamin C) while no change in Nitrogen level was noticed. (How Long Do Potatoes Last)

ii. How Does Cooking Affect the Nutrient Value of Potatoes?

Nutrient loss depends on the cooking method followed. (How Long Do Potatoes Last)

Nutrients lost in french fries and baked potatoes are the least; and it is equivalent to boiled potatoes without peeling. (How Long Do Potatoes Last)

iii. How Processing Affects Potatoes’ Nutrient Value?

Processing does affect the vitamins in potatoes, but it doesn’t mean that processing causes them to lose all their nutrients.

For example, raw and boiled potatoes contain much more nutrients than a similar amount processed into flakes. For this reason, manufacturers need to add additional immune system boosters such as vitamin C.

Processed potato products contain higher amounts of sodium, acrylamide and fat. (How Long Do Potatoes Last)

Conclusion:

Like other vegetables, potatoes have a shelf life. Multiple factors determine which storage method is appropriate. But one thing is for sure, it is not healthy to store potatoes raw in the refrigerator or freezer without any processing or curing. (How Long Do Potatoes Last)

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