Journal of Food, Agriculture and Environment

Pre- and postharvest fiber development in green asparagus as related to temperature during growth, storage and handling

Author(s):

Pankaj Kumar Bhowmik ^1*, Toshiyuki Matsui ¹, Haruo Suzuki ¹, Yusuke Kosugi ¹, A.K.M. Shameem Alam ², Fabio Gimena Enriquez ³

Recieved Date: 2002-10-21, Accepted Date: 2003-05-18

Abstract:

The effect of temperature during growth, storage, and handling on the fiber content of harvested green asparagus (Asparagus officinalis L. cvs. TE215 and KA979) was studied. Spears were harvested every month starting from March to October from greenhouse cultivation and the fiber content was measured rheologically by measuring the breaking force to shear the spears. The fiber content decreased until August in both cultivars and after that it started to increase. The effect of harvesting season on breaking force seemed to be dependent on temperature during the growing period. A highly significant negative correlation was found between temperature during the growing period and fiber content and the correlation between soil temperature and breaking force was superior to the correlations determined for air temperature and breaking force. Temperature during postharvest storage and handling appeared to have considerable effect on breaking force. Asparagus stored at 1°C gave lower breaking force readings than that stored at 25°C. The spears stored at 20°C with butts in water had the lowest breaking force values. The fiber content of the spears increased more when they were transferred to 25°C and the increase was maximum in the spears stored for 14 days at 1°C. There were no specific relationships between average monthly temperature during growing period and breaking force to shear asparagus spears under different storage conditions.

Keywords:

Asparagus officinalis, fiber, texture, temperature, growth, storage

---

Journal: Journal of Food, Agriculture and Environment
Year: 2003
Volume: 1
Issue: 3&4
Category: Food and Health
Pages: 50-53

---

Full text for Subscribers

---

Information:

Note to users

The requested document is freely available only to subscribers/registered users with an online subscription to the Journal of Food, Agriculture & Environment. If you have set up a personal subscription to this title please enter your user name and password. All abstracts are available for free.

Article purchasing

If you like to purchase this specific document such as article, review or this journal issue, contact us. Specify the title of the article or review, issue, number, volume and date of the publication. Software and compilation, Science & Technology, all rights reserved. Your use of this website details or service is governed by terms of use. Authors are invited to check from time to time news or information.

---

Purchase this Article:   20 Purchase PDF Order Reprints for 15

---

Share this article :