Potato packing app manages entire potato packing, storage, sales & distribution.

Potato packing solutions
There are so many possibilities. Therefore, it’s really helpful if someone helps you find the right solution. Not only are there a number of ways to pack potatoes, but there are also a number of methods to keep the potatoes fresh in their packaging. This helps give the potatoes a longer shelf life but also keeps them good after purchase. The longer the potatoes stay fresh, the less it will produce food waste. “JASA can help to come up with the perfect solution for our customers”, Piet Pannekeet explains. “It all depends on whether you are packing processed or unprocessed potatoes. With certain packaging techniques, we can create the most optimal conditions for the products. Together with the customers, we look at the wishes and the possibilities before creating a complete packaging line.”

Multifunctional lines for potato packing
Multifunctionality is an important part of the process for JASA and her customers. “We want to create flexible machines that offer several packaging solutions. We want to make sure that our machines have a very short changeover time. We can also add a bypass to the line. This gives our customers the option to pack the potatoes in both trays and bags at the same time, increasing the packaging capacity per minute. Depending on the chosen options, our lines can process 25-100 packages per minute.”

Sustainable packing of potatoes
There are a few factors involved when choosing your new packaging solution. The first factor is to create a good work environment. We need to decide which machines need to be included and how we can optimize the complete packaging line. The next thing we will look at is which packages the customer wants to create and how can we make sure that the potatoes will be packed in the right conditions. The flexibility of the machine also plays a part in choosing the right machine. On top of that, sustainable packaging also plays a large role in the choice of the correct packaging solution.

With a focus on less plastic packaging, less environmental pollution, and more sustainable solutions, there is a new kind of pressure on the packaging industry. That’s why JASA created Bag-2-Paper™. This new revolutionary paper packaging solution is for products such as unprocessed potatoes. The potatoes are packed in 100% paper* packages. These paper packages can be recycled with the rest of the papers.

Sustainable tray packing for potatoes
Are you currently packing potatoes in a plastic sealed cardboard tray to keep the potatoes in place? We have a new sustainable solution for this too! Our new cardboard sleeve is a good alternative for the plastic packaging around the trays. The sleeve keeps the potatoes in place while keeping them visible at the same time. It’s the perfect solution for unprocessed potatoes. This will create a packaging solution that is 100% suitable for recycling.

Looking for a complete solution to pack potatoes? Reach out to our sales team, they are always happy to advise you on the possibilities for you.

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Packing: POTATO, SOLANUM TUBEROSUM / SOLANACEAE

The most usual way to find potatoes is in bags and net sacks, thanks to the wide variety of packing machines that do this work. Among this type of packages there are the tubular mesh sacks of 1 and 2,5 kg and mesh sacks " Girsac" with an external string that acts as a label and as handles, with a capacity of 2 kg. This way of dispatching potatoes is understood as prepackaging, since the buyer must only choose the mesh or bag he prefers. Other materials used for these packages are plastic bags (perforated) or paper bags, used for small quantities: 2.5 (for plastic), 5,10,15 and 25 kg (for paper).

Another way to dispatch potatoes is in bulk; they usually come in sewn net sacks with a capacity superior to 5,10 and 25 kg, and they will be available for the consumer as free service.   Other packages used are cardboard and wood boxes.   Among the cardboard packages we find 6kg packages with a base of 500 xs 300 millimeters, trays covered with net for 2.5kg, 5kg boxes with lateral plastic holes to see the product and superior opening where the fingers are introduced to make manipulation easier, and also 12kg boxes.   Research has been carried out to package potatoes in thermoplastic, checking the good results in quality conservation. Nevertheless, it is a very expensive system for such a low price product as the potato is.

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Postharvest Potato Atmosphere Management
The main procedures after harvesting will be the curing, during which potatoes are put under temperatures around 20ºC to heal the injuries in the skin. They can also be put under cooling treatment, although it is not very usual. Potatoes intended for human consumption and stored for long periods of time will be put under chemical treatment in order to avoid sprouting and to prevent the attack of insects.   The behaviour of potatoes after harvesting will depend on the type of potato, whether it is early or late.   In the case of late varieties, potatoes must be regarded as an organ which has stopped growing, thus the activity of its metabolism will be low. Its skin has matured and therefore it will be less sensitive to the microorganisms attack, dehydration and mechanical damages. All the opposite in the case of early potatoes.  The postharvest actions that must be carried out are curing, precooling and treatments to avoid germination.

- the curing consists of submitting the recently harvested potatoes under high temperatures for a period so as to heal the harvesting damages. This process helps to the regeneration of the damaged skin. During the curing there is an important loss of water, although the beneficial effects are greater.

If the damages are healed, we prevent other types of diseases caused by microorganisms that penetrate through the open wounds.

The curing will take place at 15-20ºC, 85-90% relative humidity for 5 to 10 days. This can be also done at lower temperatures, 7-15ºC; it is a slower process, but there are less rots.

Relative humidity must be high, but one must avoid the appearance of free water films on the tuber, since that would stop the skin’s cellular regeneration and will favour the development of bacteria.

-precooling is not often applied to potatoes, since there are better results if temperatures are slowly reduced. Nevertheless, in exceptional warm temperatures periods, they use hydrocooling, that is to say, water cooling.

- treatments to prevent germination are applied on potatoes intended for fresh consumption after long time storages. These chemical treatments prevent sprouting and they can be done in the field, during the weeks previous to harvesting, or during the postharvest.

There is another irreversible way to inhibit germination, applying gamma rays. With this irradiation insects can also be controlled. However, the cost of the facilities and the consumer’s reluctance for ‘irradiated’ produce limits its use.

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Potato handling:
Postharvest potato quality
They are many alterations in potatoes, from mechanical damages produced after the harvesting, sprouting, blight, the attack of insects and bacteria that cause rots, chilling injury, the presence of sweet flavours and the greening caused by light expositions.

- Mechanical damages
This phenomenon is more appreciable in early potatoes, since they are less protected. Peeling, bruises, cuts and breaks are the main damages, being sensitivity at its high degree when the potato’s temperature is low. The bruised tubers are removed from the rest, since they have a short conservation and they are easily attacked by microorganisms.

These damages may appear in any of the handling stages, since there is a high degree of mechanization.

- Black spots
They are the evidence of the tuber’s bad handling. This dark zone appears in the surface and deepens in the pulp. Sensitivity to this injury increases when the tubers are cold, reason why it is recommended not to harvest or handle in these conditions.

- Sprouting
The tubers sprouting proves that the period of maturation has finished. The buds reduce the produce commercial value and acc