An apparatus to sample volatiles in a commercial potato storage facility

The growth of certain bacterial and fungal contaminants on potatoes under l aboratory conditions has been shown to result in the production of volatile s specific to these infections. The presence of specific volatiles could be used as an early warning sign of the presence of a specific disease in sto red potatoes. This study was done to ascertain if volatiles could be sample d and detected under commercial potato storage conditions. A simple apparat us was developed to sample air in different storage compartments of a comme rcial potato storage facility. The apparatus and the procedure enabled dete ction of volatiles under commercial storage conditions. Multiple point samp ling and its application in sampling volatiles spatially are discussed.