The vascular tissue turns brown near the stem end of the tuber. In severely affected tubers, vascular discolouration will extend throughout the tuber to the bud end. This disorder develops either in the field or during the first few months in storage. Vascular necrosis is frequently associated with rapid vine death caused by vine desiccants. The symptoms are always more severe when vine killers are applied to a crop under drought or heat stress.
Rapid vine death caused by frost or by mechanical removal may also cause stem-end browning.
In mild cases, the discolouration is shallow and speckled in appearance.
