04/11/06 Let there be light in potato displays

The supermarket wants its customers to see products, so they use colorful displays and lights OLSEN "All the other produce can pretty much be exposed to light and there's not a concern. The only one out there that is a concern are your potatoes." The University of Idaho's Nora Olsen says the ambient and artificial light over time equates to greening in potatoes. That's why she started experiments at Kimberly, putting Russet Burbank potatoes under different types of light. Olsen says fiber optic light brought the best results. OLSEN "We've done the study about four times and we feel pretty comfortable with the data and it looks like that would be the way to go compared to maybe halogen or ceramic metal halide which would be comparable products or lights that you would use for accent lighting." Fiber optic lights extended the shelf life for tubers by a half to a full day compared to the other light sources that were tested. OLSEN "Some lights maybe give off more in that red and blue region which actually green up potatoes a little bit quicker and also maybe some of the heat that's given off by the lamps may make a difference a little bit." Olsen says with all the work the Idaho Potato Commission has done on promoting spud nutritional benefits she wants to make sure consumers see those potatoes when they're shopping. Voice of Idaho Agriculture Bill Scott