ISHS Acta Horticulturae 517: XXV International Horticultural Congress, Part 7: Quality of Horticultural Products
INFLUENCE OF ROOT WATER LOSS ON CHICORY QUALITY |
| Authors: | M. De Proft, E. Krebsky, S. Leuridan |
| Keywords: | Cichorium intybus, chicory, fatty acids, root, water stress, quality |
| Abstract:
Chicory is a biennial plant. Roots are produced in the field, harvested and stored at low temperature (-1°C) until they are forced in a dark room under controlled conditions. During root storage the forcing potential of chicory roots show an optimal period depending on the cultivar. One of the major elements who influence the productivity of the root is its water loss. Therefor influence of root water loss on the vegetable production was studied. For the research presented the cultivar Rinof was used. Roots were brought in conditions where they will lose weight both at 20°C (room temp.) and 0°C. At room temperature up to a 50 % water loss was realized, at 0°C about 10% water loss was obtained. All this over different periods of time. These treated roots were brought in hydroponics forcing conditions for endive formation. External and internal parameters for quality determination were used. Endive growth decreased with increase in water loss. The percentage "brown pit" was not influenced up to a 25% water loss. The % of torpedo shaped endives (endives considered to be of good quality) decreased linearly with increasing water loss. Fatty acids (FA) from the polar lipids have been analysed. Roots with 50% weight loss showed a decrease in total FA content. Polyamines were also analysed and putrescine/spermidine plus spermine ratio showed an increase from 25% weight loss on. | |
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