Interaction of Gibberellic Acid Concentration and Storage Environment on Dormancy Release of Three Potato Varieties in Malawi

Interaction of Gibberellic Acid Concentration and Storage Environment on Dormancy Release of Three Potato Varieties in Malawi | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Interaction of Gibberellic Acid Concentration and Storage Environment on Dormancy Release of Three Potato Varieties in Malawi Vincent Mgoli Mwale, Rosemary Mzembe Munkhondia, Abel Sefasi, and 3 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-9568735/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Under Review Version 1 posted 4 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) is a significant food and seed crop in Malawi; however, premature sprouting and postharvest deterioration compromise seed-tuber quality in smallholder storage systems. There is insufficient evidence that gibberellic acid (GA₃) interacts with storage conditions and genotype to affect dormancy and sprouting in tropical highland conditions. A split–split plot experiment with four replications was conducted to evaluate three storage methods (diffused light store, darkroom, and sack storage), three potato varieties (Chuma, Thandizo, and Zikomo), and five GA₃ concentrations (0, 10, 20, 30, and 40 ppm). Storage method, GA₃ dose, and variety significantly affected dormancy period, sprout number, sprout length, weight loss, and disease incidence (p ≤ 0.01). Moderate GA₃ concentrations (20–30 ppm) decreased dormancy duration by 14–30 days. Diffused light storage minimized weight loss (~20%) compared to darkroom (~25%) and sack storage (~26%). A significant three-way interaction (p = 0.01) indicated varietal differences in GA₃ response across storage locations. GA₃ did not consistently reduce the incidence of late bright. Overall, GA₃ × storage × genotype interactions strongly influenced sprouting, with moderate GA₃ under diffused light storage offering the best balance between dormancy release and tuber quality. Solanum tuberosum diffused light store gibberellic acid sprouting postharvest physiology Malawi dormancy seed-tuber quality Full Text Cite Share Download PDF Status: Under Review Version 1 posted Reviewers invited by journal 14 May, 2026 Editor invited by journal 07 May, 2026 Editor assigned by journal 06 May, 2026 First submitted to journal 06 May, 2026 You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-9568735","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":640281207,"identity":"082f036f-3449-476f-8ff3-3e0f8c965fce","order_by":0,"name":"Vincent Mgoli Mwale","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAAzUlEQVRIiWNgGAWjYLCCBwY2MiRqSTBI4yFVC8NhErQYXDt+8UFCwXkeg+NnD36uYLCTZxA7Y4Bfy+2cYoMEg9s8BmfykiXPMCQbNkjn4NciOTsnTQKs5UCOgWQDA3MCg3TuBmK0nOMxOP/G+GcDQz1hLfzS6ceAWg7wGNzIMQPacpgYLTnMQL8k80jeeGNm2WBw3LBNOv8DXi1s0ukPH3z4YyfHdz7H+GZDRbU8v3RaAl4tDAw8yOEDZLMRUA8E7A8IqxkFo2AUjIKRDQArUD+h6clVIwAAAABJRU5ErkJggg==","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0009-0004-0631-602X","institution":"Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resources (LUANAR)","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Vincent","middleName":"Mgoli","lastName":"Mwale","suffix":""},{"id":640281208,"identity":"73f48096-b26f-4cb3-860e-6507f8e20928","order_by":1,"name":"Rosemary Mzembe Munkhondia","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resources (LUANAR)","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Rosemary","middleName":"Mzembe","lastName":"Munkhondia","suffix":""},{"id":640281209,"identity":"9bf2de5d-3aa4-45dc-9498-018207c9babe","order_by":2,"name":"Abel Sefasi","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resources (LUANAR)","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Abel","middleName":"","lastName":"Sefasi","suffix":""},{"id":640281210,"identity":"abd02a04-55f3-4432-bb67-c230a068fd1c","order_by":3,"name":"Jacinta Andrew Nyaika","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resources (LUANAR)","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Jacinta","middleName":"Andrew","lastName":"Nyaika","suffix":""},{"id":640281211,"identity":"728d5b36-c389-4649-a28f-c7d243fca3eb","order_by":4,"name":"Rowland Maganizo Kamanga","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resources (LUANAR)","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Rowland","middleName":"Maganizo","lastName":"Kamanga","suffix":""},{"id":640281212,"identity":"95c676b8-a376-45e8-b74b-64139a9ea5f7","order_by":5,"name":"Deborah Thayo","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resources (LUANAR)","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Deborah","middleName":"","lastName":"Thayo","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2026-04-29 17:32:18","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-9568735/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-9568735/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":109432921,"identity":"91c78cae-1a0a-447c-a602-d38bdc496e36","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-05-18 05:37:30","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":872579,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"MgoliMwaleetal.2026PotatoManuscript.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-9568735/v1_covered_b44c801e-7bae-480b-aeca-3fb5de03b54c.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"","formattedTitle":"Interaction of Gibberellic Acid Concentration and Storage Environment on Dormancy Release of Three Potato Varieties in Malawi","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":false,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"potato-research","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"potr","sideBox":"Learn more about [Potato Research](http://link.springer.com/journal/11540)","snPcode":"11540","submissionUrl":"https://www.editorialmanager.com/potr/default2.aspx","title":"Potato Research","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"em","reportingPortfolio":"Springer Hybrid","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":false},"keywords":"Solanum tuberosum, diffused light store, gibberellic acid, sprouting; postharvest physiology, Malawi, dormancy, seed-tuber quality","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-9568735/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-9568735/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"Potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) is a significant food and seed crop in Malawi; however, premature sprouting and postharvest deterioration compromise seed-tuber quality in smallholder storage systems. There is insufficient evidence that gibberellic acid (GA₃) interacts with storage conditions and genotype to affect dormancy and sprouting in tropical highland conditions. A split–split plot experiment with four replications was conducted to evaluate three storage methods (diffused light store, darkroom, and sack storage), three potato varieties (Chuma, Thandizo, and Zikomo), and five GA₃ concentrations (0, 10, 20, 30, and 40 ppm). Storage method, GA₃ dose, and variety significantly affected dormancy period, sprout number, sprout length, weight loss, and disease incidence (p ≤ 0.01). Moderate GA₃ concentrations (20–30 ppm) decreased dormancy duration by 14–30 days. Diffused light storage minimized weight loss (~20%) compared to darkroom (~25%) and sack storage (~26%). A significant three-way interaction (p = 0.01) indicated varietal differences in GA₃ response across storage locations. GA₃ did not consistently reduce the incidence of late bright. 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