The potato tuber is a living organism. It breathes and is highly sensitive. Potatoes rest in a dark cellar, but as soon as the sun warms the fields and a gentle spring breeze blows, the potatoes begin to wake from their “slumber” even while still in the dark. They start to sprout, sending out long, thin shoots packed with nutrients.
A heavily sprouted tuber is no longer fit to eat. People tried many methods to put potatoes to sleep and slow sprouting, but long-term storage stayed expensive until the use of radioactive isotopes.
Today, small doses of radioactive cobalt isotopes are put into long tubes and placed among the potatoes in storage. Two months of exposure is enough to keep the tubers “asleep” for many months, whether in winter or summer.
