High‐energy electron beam irradiation inhibited the sprouting of potato tubers by regulating carbohydrate metabolism

Abstract BACKGROUND Electron beam irradiation has been proven to have a strong inhibitory effect on potato sprouting. It offers environmental friendliness, safety, and suitability for industrial‐scale processing. However, the anti‐sprouting mechanism of electron beam irradiation remains unclear. RESULTS In this research, potato tubers were treated with 0 or 0.3 kGy doses of high‐energy electron beam (HEEB) irradiation. The sprouting rate, quality, and nutritional attributes (decay, weight loss, respiration rate, firmness, vitamin C, soluble protein, Total soluble solids, starch, and soluble sugars), the α ‐amylase, β ‐amylase, adenosine diphosphate (ADP)‐glucose pyrophosphorylase (AGPase), sucrose synthase (SS), sucrose phosphate synthase (SPS), acid invertase (AI) activity, and the relative expression levels of genes involved in carbohydrate metabolism were investigated. The results indicated that HEEB irradiation can inhibit potato tuber sprouting effectively and extend the shelf life to 150 days. High‐energy electron beam irradiation had no negative effect on quality and nutrition. It delayed the decline of starch and soluble sugars by inhibiting the activity of α ‐amylase, β ‐amylase, AGPase, SS‐cleavage and AI, and down‐regulating expression levels of genes ( StBAM2 , StBAM3 , StSUSY , StVInv , and StcwINV2 ). CONCLUSION These results suggest that the sprouting‐inhibition effect of HEEB irradiation may be related to the changes in carbohydrates. The change in SS activity and the relative expression level of StcwINV2 may be markers of potato tuber sprouting. Overall, the results of this study offered candidate genes for exploring the molecular biological mechanism to elucidate the complex interactions between carbohydrate metabolism and sprouting inhibition under HEEB treatment. © 2025 Society of Chemical Industry.