SHELF LIFE AND POST-HARVEST QUALITY OF SWEET POTATO AS AFFECTED BY INDIGENOUS MATERIALS AS LINERS IN UNDERGROUND STORAGE

This study was conducted on July 10-24,2019. The objective of the study was to prolong the shelf life of the sweet potato as affected by indigenous materials as liners in underground storage at Mindanao State University, General Santos City. A Completely Randomized Design (CRD) was used in this experiment with five treatments replicated three times. The treatments used as different liners for underground storage were as follows: Treatment 1- Control (Open Pit), T2- Soil, T3- Sawdust, T4- Rice straw, TS- Rice hull The result showed a highly significant difference among treatment means on pest damaged and weight loss of sweet potato but not on discoloration and shelf life as influenced by the indigenous materials as liners in underground storage. The used of soil (T2) and sawdust (T3) was able to prolong shelf life, reduced pest damaged and weight loss of sweet potato during storage. On the other hand, the VQR of sweet showed outstanding result as to attractiveness, flesh color, taste test and texture (mouth feel) using soil (T2) and sawdust (T3) as liners in underground storage