Potatoes are an important crop for the economy and food sector as they are being eaten in almost all parts of the world. They can be cooked for a wide range of recipes. Not only that, but potatoes also make great rotation crops. That is why it is quite profitable to grow potatoes and farmers love to grow the easy maintenance crop on their fields. Whether you are growing potatoes for commercial purposes or you want to have farm-grown fresh potatoes for your own usage, you have to ensure that you are doing it right by following an easy maintenance routine. This is to ensure you don’t face issues such as a potato that turns black.
Learning about some handy tips that can let you avoid problems like this or other issues would be great since they’ll allow you to grow perfectly good potatoes. At times the potatoes can turn black and or brown and there can be a number of reasons behind that. A few of such reasons that you will need to know about are discussed below.
A Few Reasons Why Your Potato Turns Black
1. Oxidation
It is basic science that potatoes are starchy vegetables. That means they react to the oxygen pretty quickly. This results in them turning brown or even black when exposed to oxygen. You might find it a bit funny to have that color on the potatoes. But, it is totally safe to eat unless you can see any apparent mold on the potatoes. Otherwise, they might be turning squishy and soft that can happen due to a number of reasons. So, you just have to make sure that you are keeping them safe and in a dry place to avoid oxidation as much as possible. A few reasons that can cause you to have oxidation and the best way to avoid them would be:
2. Peeling Them Early
Potatoes skin has a dry texture on it that absorbs oxygen. This also helps the potatoes stay fresh and ensures that they’ll not change their color. However, if you peel them earlier than the time you have to use them, the potatoes will be turning brown or black. So, you just have to make sure that you are not peeling these potatoes before you need to use them.
Peeling them just before the cooking will be helping you ensure that you are getting the perfect potatoes without them being turning black or brown and that would be the best thing for you to have. Potatoes are more prone to oxidation once they are peeled. So, simply making sure that you are not leaving them out once you have peeled will cause you to have the perfect solution for this problem.
3. Metal Pans
Another thing that will cause problems with your potatoes turning black or brown could be their reaction with the aluminum or metal pans. They react with your potatoes pretty fast. That can cause a number of problems including the potatoes turning black or brown. So, you will need to cut on the metal pans if you are looking to deal with the potatoes. Additionally, choose glass dishes that will avoid such reaction problems for you. Then you will be getting the perfect potatoes that are not turned to any darker shade and are the right yellowish color that everyone loves to have.
4. Not Keeping Them in Water
Another reason for potatoes turning black is leaving them out in the open after cutting them up and not keeping them in the water. The best way would be to keep a bowl of water nearby. Completely submerge your potatoes in the water once you have peeled and cut them for any purpose. This way, you can refrigerate the potatoes as well which is not possible otherwise. That will ensure you have fresh potatoes and they are not going to turn to any off-color either.
5. Moisture
Yet, another thing is moisture. If you are storing the potatoes in a moist place where the humidity levels are high, they will be turning black. That that is not something anyone wants. So, you will need to make sure that you are storing them in a dry place for the right longevity.