If not stored correctly, potatoes will unfortunately sprout, wrinkle, soften and even turn green.

The popular vegetable is bought ambient - not in the fridge aisles in the supermarket - and many store them in cupboards, or dark spaces when they get home.

But new research said potatoes can safely be stored in the fridge to extend their shelf life by up to at least six months.

Overall, almost half a million tonnes of fresh vegetables and salad, and a quarter of a million tonnes of fresh fruit worth a total of £2.1billion, are thrown away in UK homes each year because they are not used in time, according to the experts at Love Food Hate Waste.

Potatoes were originally kept out of fridges in fear of acrylamide levels being increased. Acrylamide is a chemical substance formed in starchy foods, and exposure to it can increase the risk of cancer.

However, extensive scientific research has now shown that storing your spuds in the fridge “doesn’t actually increase acrylamide potential” compared with storing them in a cupboard at room temperature.

The research has been overseen by the Committee on the Toxicity of Chemicals in Food, Consumer Products and the Environment (COT) and reviewed by the FSA, so you can be confident in its findings.

When storing potatoes, consumers are also advised to follow Best Before dates and labels with caution.

The charity WRAP behind Love Food Hate Waste conducted a trial to see whether best-before dates were accurate or were indeed causing unnecessary food waste.

Results from the survey indicated that Best Before dates are often not an accurate indication of when products are still good to eat, especially when products are stored in optimum conditions – "when they last much longer”.

Take potatoes for example, if kept ambient, in a kitchen cupboard, for example, the packaging suggests they are best before 10 days. But it was another four days after the date when the first signs of deterioration showed.

When potatoes were stored at four degrees, the packaging still suggested they were best before 10 days. But it was another 20 days after the date when the first signs of deterioration showed.

When best-before dates were scrapped from the trial altogether, potatoes were shown to last much longer - both ambient and in the fridge.

The experts claimed that the fridge is the “right place” to store potatoes as this is where “they’ll last the longest”.

Potatoes can be stored for up to several months in a cool, dark place. However, if kept in the fridge, potatoes can last up to three times as long, so six months plus.

To improve the conditions for potatoes even further, consider removing them from the original plastic packaging and keeping potatoes in a fabric bag as the sack material excludes light and allows the potatoes to breathe.