Organisms associated with damage to post-harvest potato tubers.

The potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) is one of the crops with the highest human consumption worldwide. The crop is threatened from its beginnings by different organisms; some of them cause superficial damage to the tubers, which reduce the quality and appearance and causes rejection by the consumer. Out of a total of 34 potato tuber samples destined for human consumption, obtained through directed visual sampling, at the Central de Abastos de Ecatepec, microorganisms associated with some physical damage or superficial alteration were identified; in addition, of atypical spots on the surface of tubers. Of the total samples, in the 50% were identified bacterial damages caused by Enterobacter aerogenes, Pseudomonas fluorescens and Streptomyces sp. In the 41% were identified fungi and protozoa like Fusarium oxysporum, F. solani, F. verticillioides, Rhizoctonia solani, Alternaria sp., Colletotrichum sp., Clonostachys sp., Geotrichum sp., and Spongospora subterranea f. sp. subterranea. 9% of the remaining samples, no organism related to the damage was identified. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]