February 26, 2021 By Brian C. Clark When Jake Blauer lived in Brazil, he says he saw a lot of potatoes, “but they were often green.” Blauer is the newly hired post-harvest potato physiologist at Washington State University. What green potatoes meant to Blauer was that they had been improperly stored. A farmer can grow a great crop of potatoes but if the crop is not managed properly after harvest, there can be significant loses, resulting in poor quality and reduced access to a nutritious energy source. Spuds turning green can also signal the presence of glycoalkaloids. High concentrations of glycoalkaloids can be toxic to humans, potentially causing gastrointestinal problems.