AN APPARATUS TO SAMPLE VOLATILES IN A COMMERCIAL POTATO STORAGE FACILITY

The growth of certain bacterial and fungal contaminants on potatoes under laboratory conditions has been shown to result in the production of volatiles specific to these infections. The presence of specific volatiles could be used as an early warning sign of the presence of a specific disease in stored potatoes. This study was done to ascertain if volatiles could be sampled and detected under commercial potato storage conditions. A simple apparatus was developed to sample air in different storage compartments of a commercial potato storage facility. The apparatus and the procedure enabled detection of volatiles under commercial storage conditions. Multiple point sampling and its application in sampling volatiles spatially are discussed.