INFLUENCE OF THE DURATION OF STORAGE ON THE QUALITY OF ASPARAGUS SHOOTS

Authors

  • Emilija Šilinskaitė Vytautas Magnus University Agriculture Academy
  • Audronė Žebrauskienė Vytautas Magnus University Agriculture Academy

Keywords:

asparagus, storage, shoots, qualitative indicators

Abstract

The purpose of the study is to determine the influence of storage time on the quality of asparagus shoots. Asparagus are grown in the Pomological garden of Agronomy faculty of Vytautas Magnus University Agriculture Academy.

For the study, healthy, without visible lesions or signs of disease, smidgen shoots were selected. Shoots were selected by diameter and tests were carried out on fresh shoots, while others were placed in freezer bags of 400g each and stored in the refrigerator 4 weeks. The object of the study is medicinal asparagus (Asparagus officinalis L.). The research was carried out in June 2022 at the Laboratory of Plant Food Raw Materials Quality Research of the Academy of Agriculture of the Vytautas Magnus University, and the following quality indicators were tested in three repetitions: dry matter content, vitamin C content and nitrate content.

As a result of the study, the highest amount of dry matter in the asparagus shoots was after the  I week of storage (6.12%), and the lowest after the II weeks of storage. Essentially, the content of vitamin C was the highest in fresh asparagus shoots (24.64 mg kg-1), while the lowest vitamin c content was in III weeks asparagus shoots (8.80 mg kg-1). Reliably, the highest amount of nitrates in asparagus shoots was determined in fresh asparagus shoots (156 mg kg-1), and the lowest after III weeks of storage in the refrigerator (134 mg kg-1).

Downloads

Published

2023-07-09

Issue

Section

Food quality and safety