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Reduced Ascorbic Acid Content Of Potatoes Grown With And Without Straw Mulching And Irrigation In Eastern Nebraska, H. O. Werner, Ruth M. Leverton, Mary R. Gram

Historical Research Bulletins of the Nebraska Agricultural Experiment Station

Potatoes harvested from home gardens and in commercial early-producing fields in the Midwest are an important low-cost source of ascorbic acid from late June into September. The major portion of the early commercial crop in Nebraska (harvested mostly in August) is produced with irrigation. Straw or litter mulching is a well established practice in the nonirrigated garden and farm potato patches. The value of these cultural methods for increasing yield is well known, but prior to this study little was known about their influence on the ascorbic acid content of the tubers, or about the persistence of any such influence …