How Long Do Potatoes Last?
Let's face the fact that potatoes are a staple of our diet and we like it very much irrespective of our tastes. Potatoes are the cheapest nutrition option for every household and larger the family the bigger stock of potatoes is found in the kitchen.
So the question that bothers everyone and you also is exactly how long the potatoes remain good or how long do potatoes last?
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The answer is not simple as the longevity of a potato depends highly on its type and preservation technique, but if you are looking for an average measure, then we can say that a potato lasts for 1 to 2 weeks.
To be more precise, different potatoes have different shelf lives under different conditions. The various conditions are:
Can Potatoes Go Bad?
Since potatoes are so frequently consumed that the question of them going bad remains at the back of our minds. Alas, like other common vegetables and food items, the potatoes go bad too. And in some cases, they can go very bad.
As we said earlier, the potatoes are an important part of the daily diet of people from all over the world. And hardly a single day goes by when you don't have potatoes in some form. So, the potatoes going bad is a very serious problem since we tend to do the monthly or weekly grocery shopping together at a time.
How Bad Can the Potatoes Go?
The potatoes going bad is not a localized problem and it also affects the other vegetables with which it's stored. So, if we do not identify the bad potatoes and separate them from the other vegetables they might also go bad and our losses will be increased.
Despite having a relatively lower shelf life and going bad pretty soon, the potatoes are still fit for consumption for a certain period after it has started going bad. You can just skim off the outer bad portions and eat the rest of it, but it's highly recommended that you discard a bad potato immediately and also separate it from other vegetables of yours.
How long can the potatoes be consumed after they have started going bad?
The potatoes of any kind have a certain amount of time before they can be surely discarded as unfit for eating. Some of the basic pointers for ensuring that the potatoes can still be eaten even after they have started going bad are given below.
Store Your Potatoes the Right Way
The best way to extend the shelf life of not only potatoes, but also any other vegetable or fruits is to optimize the storage techniques and keep them fresh for as long as possible. Given below are some basic pointers for people who are worried about storing their potatoes the right way. Following the given tips can be very helpful for extending the shelf life of your potatoes.
Inspect the Potatoes Regularly
We are always very busy with our daily chores and forgetting to regularly check our groceries is a common mistake we all do. But, if you want to ensure that the potatoes, or any other vegetable for that matter, stay fresh for longer then it's recommended that you check them regularly. For potatoes, it’s important to check for sprouts, pest infestation or any other abnormal spots or any kind of damage. If you see any kind of signs that indicate that the potatoes have gone bad or are starting to go bad then you should immediately separate it from other vegetables to ensure that they are not damaged as well.
Place the Potatoes with Sufficient Ventilation
This one again goes for other vegetables as well. Wherever you store the potatoes the place must have proper ventilation systems to ensure that they remain fresh for a longer period. If there is no proper ventilation then the potatoes start to develop molds on its skin and spots that may cause it to go bad. But take care that there should be not so much air that the potato starts losing its moisture and starts to shrivel. You can consume potatoes with some molds and spots, but it's very harmful to consume shriveled potatoes.
It’s best to store the potatoes in a paper or cardboard bag. You can also keep them in a basket, but never keep them in plastic bags as they do not allow enough room for breathing. If you bought them in a plastic bag, then it’s advised to remove them from it as storing them in plastic bags considerably reduces their shelf life.
Store Under Proper Conditions
It’s important to determine the right place for storing your potatoes as the right storage conditions are very helpful for prolonging the shelf life of the potatoes. The best conditions to store your potatoes are in a cool, humid and dark place. Make sure that the room has enough room for the breathing of the containers. The most vital thing is to make sure that the potatoes are not exposed to sunlight as they help the growth of sprouts and more the sprouts, higher is the toxicity of the potatoes.
An insulated basement or garage is the perfect place to store your potatoes, but never store them in the fridge. When stored in a fridge, the extreme cold temperature turns the starch in the potatoes into sugar and reduces their shelf life.
Remove Any Potato That Has Gone Bad
This is an echo of the first tip. It’s very important to regularly check for any signs of damage in the potatoes to ensure that you do not consume one by mistake. So it’s necessary to identify the ones that have already gone bad and the ones that have just started to go bad.
The bad ones have to be discarded immediately, there is no getting around that. However, if you identify some potatoes that have just started to go bad then you can still consume it. Like sometimes potatoes may develop eyes or sprouts growing from them but you can still safely consume them, you just need to remove the harmful parts, i.e., the eyes and the sprouts. However, if the sprouts have grown too much, then it’s recommended that you discard them immediately.
Additional Tips for Enhancing the Preservation of The Potatoes
The above-mentioned tips are some basic pointers that you can use while storing your potatoes. Apart from them, there are tonnes of other factors that help in the storage of potatoes and they all differ depending on the geographical conditions. So what works for someone in China might not work for someone in the U.S. and vice versa. So, to help you out there are some additional tips that can help you to store your potatoes for a longer period.
Conclusion
As we all agreed at the start that potatoes are an important part of our daily diet and we all are bound to buy some in our groceries. So it’s important to know how to store them well so that you don’t have to eat bad potatoes and suffer from solanine toxicity or the other slew of side effects that may occur. You can just try out the above tips and preserve your potatoes for a long time and also keep them fresh.
