Surely you are not always satisfied with the quality of the purchased potatoes: either the tubers have a bright yellow color, then it is hard, then the mashed potatoes turn out to be dark in color, then they boil quickly, but the taste of the potatoes is always different. So what does the taste of potatoes depend on?
Sometimes people themselves are the culprits of the deteriorated quality of potatoes, and all because of the wrong growing technology. The preparation of tubers for planting (fertilization, tillage, care, planting dates, harvesting, disease control and even storage of tubers) has a great influence on these qualities.
The taste of potatoes depends not only on objective indicators, but also on the chemical composition. The content of proteins, starch, vitamins, amino acids, micro- and macroelements, together with resistance to diseases, are genetically determined and are laid down already during the selection of a new variety. Perception of taste is rather subjective, unstable, and volatile.
Many people assume that the starch is a matter of taste. Indeed, potato varieties with a high starch content are much tastier. They are suitable for baking, mashed potatoes and boiling in their skins. But there are varieties (for example, "Nikita"), in which the tubers have excellent taste with a low starch content. It turns out that the flavor is shaped by the chemical compounds in potatoes. Aspartic and glutamic acids make it especially tasty. As a rule, the tastiest fruits of potatoes contain a large amount of amino acids and nucleids.
High taste of potatoes can be obtained by using compost or humus for planting (300 kilograms per one hundred square meters) in combination with a balanced and moderate application of mineral fertilizers (phosphorus, nitrogen and potassium), as well as micronutrient fertilizers (zinc, manganese, boron and molybdenum). An excellent result will be given by ash introduced into the soil (three to four kilograms per one hundred square meters of land).
