Lyckeby Starch AB is a farmer-owned company that produces products based on potato starch. In order to increase their production efficiency and their international competitiveness the company is investigating the possibilities of keeping their factories open longer. To achieve this, potato has to be stored for a longer period of time than what is practiced today. Starch potato is usually stored in large piles covered by straw and plastic, either in the field or on the farmyard. The objective was to examine in what way starch yield (starch content*tuber weight) in three different potato varieties was affected by storage in two different types of storage piles. The potato was stored for three months in total and starch content and tuber weight were controlled throughout the period. Stored tubers were also visually examined and prescense of mechanical damage as well as wet rots and dry rots was recorded. Bacteria and fungi were isolated and identified. In general, varietal differences were greater than differences between the storage piles.

During the cultivation season there are a several cropping activities to carry out. At what time these activities are carried out is affecting the result and also on the economy of the crop production. As the production costs are high in potato production, it is important to keep an eye on the economy. Profitability is the most important factor in most crop production systems. If the costs are not covered, it is difficult to justify the production.

During the cultivation season there are a several cropping activities to carry out. At what time these activities are carried out is affecting the result and also on the economy of the crop production. As the production costs are high in potato production, it is important to keep an eye on the economy. Profitability is the most important factor in most crop production systems. If the costs are not covered, it is difficult to justify the production.

I want to find the meaning of food ?potato in today?s society. How about marketing and how does potato consumes? What can be done to achieve better competitiveness towards other products now and in the future? I will build this project on a statistic ground ?now and then? as well as a study to people outside various food- markets. The consumers answers will state my foundation in this project.

Potato late blight is one of the most important potato diseases worldwide. The disease is caused by an oomycete called Phytophthora infestans. The host range of P. infestans includes potato (Solanum tuberosum) and hairy nightshade (Solanum physalifolium). Hairy nightshade has recently established itself as an important weed in the southernmost part of Sweden.

The requirements of good quality and appetizing fast food increases continuously as a consequence of a community where food is always available. The crispiness of French fries is an issue that must be considered in this context, since it tends to decrease and give the fries a soft surface not appreciated by the consumer. To prolong the crispiness, the fries can be coated by a batter, a mix of starches. The batters used often consists of modified starches, e.g. cross-linked, acetylated and dextrinizated to increase and prolong crispiness, flour to stabilize the batter and sodium bicarbonate to make the batter ?rise?.The cross-linked starch keeps the granules in a swelled state and prevents them from breaking when exposed to heat or processing: therefore, it delays the gelatinization and decreases the stickiness of the batter.

ABSTRACT The potato has had an important role in the Swedish dietary customs for quite some time. However, during the last forty years, consumption has decreased from 87 kg/year and person to 46 kg/year and person. Other products such as pasta, rice and bulgur are competing with the potato. Many of the competitors have been developed and refined while the potato has not changed much. The potato is still a bulk product while competing products have been differentiated. Stakeholders within the potato market has realized that something has to be done and today there are a number of organizations and networks that all actively work to preserve the Swedish agriculture and specifically the potato as a product. The purpose with this essay is to examine how store managers in the Swedish grocery stores view the handling of the potato in the store, the quality and packaging, marketing and future consumption.

The high viscosity of barley material makes starch isolation problematical using regular methods established for cereals. An adjusted starch isolation method has been set up for barley, based on fractionation and purification. The focus is on attaining truly representative isolates of six flour samples selected for widely differing characteristics within the research program BarleyFunFood (BFF). Beside establishment of the method, this diploma work aspires to serve the BFF with isolated material of sufficient yield valid for further starch characterisation. A pre study was conducted evaluating available wet mixing equipment, experimental conditions and mode of procedure.

Until the sixties potatoes have had a unthreatened position at the Swedish dining tables, but then different alternatives such as rice and pasta have become popular. In 2005 the Swedish potato-consumption have more than hafted compared with the sixties, we have gone from circa 90 to 40 kilograms per person and year. This paper aims to provide those who are involved within the potatoe business with an overview of the attitude and behaviour towards potatoes that are being held by Swedish consumers. In order to reach to the conclusion, in- store interviews had been held with customers in the cities of Stockholm and Malmö. The interviews showed that the typical potato-consumer prefers to choose and in pick their own potatoes to a bag in the store in favour of the pre-packed alternatives. Based on the outcome of the interviews a number of conclusions could be drawn. The consumers were of the perception that the pre-packed alternatives were too big for their households.

There are two species of potato cyst nematode (PCN), the yellow, Globodera rostochiensis, and the white, Globodera pallida. Each of them can appear in different pathotypes. These are separated by testing the nematode ability to multiply on a number of potato cultivars with different resistance properties. The aim of this project was to examine the virulence of Swedish and foreign PCN populations and to compare two test methods. Biotests are today the only available tests used to study virulence.

The boiling properties are an important quality issue of the potato. In order to obtain adequate boiling properties the growth of the potato needs to be controlled and interrupted at the right time. However, it is difficult to determine when to stop the growth. Specific gravity can easily be measured and can sometimes be used as a tool for estimating the boiling properties. This report discusses different aspects of the specific gravity of the potato and how it can be used as a tool to determine the appropriate time for vine killing.

The boiling properties are an important quality issue of the potato. In order to obtain adequate boiling properties the growth of the potato needs to be controlled and interrupted at the right time. However, it is difficult to determine when to stop the growth. Specific gravity can easily be measured and can sometimes be used as a tool for estimating the boiling properties. This report discusses different aspects of the specific gravity of the potato and how it can be used as a tool to determine the appropriate time for vine killing.

Agricultural land could be polluted by radioactive substances after a fallout. We would then need information about the level of contamination to decide whether the crops could be utilized as food under these circumstances. In an experiment carried out during the 1990ies the retention of 134Cs in potato haulm and the transfer to the tubers were studied. The experiment was carried out during three consecutive years. The plants were cultivated in pots under field conditions and the artificial deposition was sprayed directly onto the potato haulm at different times during the growing season.

More often consumers demand instant dry soup that can be prepared with a water temperature below 100o C, which is currently not possible, because the dry soup becomes too thin when using water with a lower temperature. In this study, various kinds of starch studies were made to optimize the starch used in the existing product to make it more viscous at both high and low temperatures. The result was that one of the two starches present in the existing product was retained by change in quantity as it contributed to important flavor parameters. The second was removed and replaced with a starch that made the product more viscous at lower temperatures. To find out if the new product differed from the existing product a viscosity measurement and a sensory paired preference test were made.

The aim with the thesis is to get deeper knowledge in one of the subjects botany, livestock technology or economy. I have chosen to get deeper knowledge in how to store potatoes. How are you going to act to keep the quality on the potato during the storage, with a minimum of weight lost? My aim with this thesis is to get a view over how the potato act in storage space. The storage environment is very important in the storage space.