Sprout control is essential for successful management of stored potatoes. This study examined the effect of dill weed, spearmint and clove essential oils on sprouting of potatoes. Extracts of steam distilled dill weed whole plants containing 41.5-42.7% of S-(+)-carvone and spearmint foliage extracts containing 97.2-97.6% of R-(-)-carvone, were applied to tubers in a series of experiments using either 1-L glass jars or 63-L steel drums. The composition of the essential oils was consistent between years but evaporation rate varied among the oils as dill weed extract evaporated the fastest while clove oil evaporated the slowest under the same conditions. After exposure to essential oil treatments, tuber sprout number and weight were assessed and compared to untreated control and tubers treated with commercially marketed clove oil product (Biox-CTM, containing 78.5-82.3% eugenol). Applications of 32.5 and 47.6 mg L-1 headspace of dill weed oil and 21.5 and 22.3 mg L-1 headspace of spearmint oil achieved 50% reduction in 'Russet Burbank' sprout weight and sprout number respectively, 30 days after the initial treatment. Tubers stored in environments with 60-240 mg L-1 headspace of dill weed or spearmint oils suppressed sprouting at least 5 weeks longer than that of the controls. In 63-L steel drums, repeated dill and spearmint oil vapor treatments effectively and consistently suppressed sprouting of 'Russet Norkotah' and 'Piccolo' tubers for 7-8 months when doses were 25 mg L-1 headspace or higher and when treatments were repeated at least every four weeks. Within this range, sprout suppression was not sensitive to treatment variations, and, therefore, an optimal treatment level could not be determined. Clove oil was less effective in suppressing sprouting, likely due to its slower vaporization compared to dill and spearmint oils. Essential oil treatment effects on seed tuber viability were evaluated on 'Piccolo'. Tubers were planted after exposure to dill or spearmint oil vapor environments ranging from 15-240 mg L-1 headspace for seven days. There were no adverse effects on seed viability at doses less than 120 mg L-1 headspace. Although environments with <120 mg L-1 headspace had no significant adverse impact on sprouting, sprout emergence was delayed at higher doses. Dill weed and spearmint oils could potentially be used as potato sprout inhibitors but further studies are needed to demonstrate its commercial feasibility.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:USASK/oai:usask.ca:etd-11302009-214226 |
| Date | 04 December 2009 |
| Creators | Song, Xin |
| Contributors | Coulman, Bruce, Reaney, Martin, Gray, Gordon, Tanino, Karen, Neeser, Chris, Bandara, Manjula |
| Publisher | University of Saskatchewan |
| Source Sets | University of Saskatchewan Library |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | http://library.usask.ca/theses/available/etd-11302009-214226/ |
| Rights | unrestricted, I hereby certify that, if appropriate, I have obtained and attached hereto a written permission statement from the owner(s) of each third party copyrighted matter to be included in my thesis, dissertation, or project report, allowing distribution as specified below. I certify that the version I submitted is the same as that approved by my advisory committee. I hereby grant to University of Saskatchewan or its agents the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible, under the conditions specified below, my thesis, dissertation, or project report in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. I retain all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis, dissertation or project report. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis, dissertation, or project report. |
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