Effect of some antioxidant treatments on physical and chemical characters of jerusalem artichoke tubers under cold storage conditions
Jerusalem artichoke is one of the non-traditional crops of the family Asteraceae. Its tubers are considered one of the richest vegetable crop in sugars especially inulin. Jerusalem artichoke faces some problems during storage such as tubers browning. The aim of this study was to enhance tubers quality and storability by soaking treatments for 5 min with 3% ascorbic acid, 3% citric acid, 1% calcium chloride or water, which served as control, before storage. The results clearly indicated that 3% ascorbic acid reduced the weight loss and decay. Also, it maintained better tubers appearance as well as higher contents of carbohydrates, total soluble solids, protein and inulin compared to other treatments. The observed effects of ascorbic acid on the tubers quality and storability could be due to its effect on Polyphenol oxidase, whereas its activity was inhibited by ascorbic acid.