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Impact of harvesting time on the chemical composition and quality of fresh lotus seeds

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Abstract

This study compared the physicochemical properties and sensory quality of fresh lotus seeds of ‘Mantianxing’ and ‘No.36 space lotus’. The results showed that along with the maturation of seeds, the seed shell color changed from green to brown and that of the plumule turned from yellow to green. In addition, the moisture content decreased, the hardness significantly increased, and the plumpness remained constant. The above changes occurred 4 days earlier in August than in September. During maturation, the total phenol content and DPPH free radical scavenging capacity decreased; the soluble sugar content and sweet taste first increased and then decreased; and the alkaloid content and bitter taste showed an overall increasing trend. Hence, the quality of fresh lotus seeds is determined by the harvesting time, and lotus seeds harvested on day 14 in August and day 18 in September have the highest fresh quality.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to acknowledge the Major Projects of Technical Innovation in Hubei Province (2017ABA152-4) for financial support and the Institute of Aquatic Vegetables, Wuhan Academy of Agricultural Sciences for providing the lotus seed samples.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Food Science and Technology, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, 430070, People’s Republic of China

    Yixuan Tu, Shoulei Yan & Jie Li

  2. Aquatic Vegetable Preservation and Processing Technology Engineering Center of Hubei Province, Wuhan, 430070, People’s Republic of China

    Yixuan Tu, Shoulei Yan & Jie Li

Authors
  1. Yixuan Tu
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  2. Shoulei Yan
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  3. Jie Li
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Contributions

YT has completed the design and research of the whole experiment and the writing of the manuscript. SY has completed the editing and the revision of the whole manuscript. JL revised the knowledge content of the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Shoulei Yan.

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The authors have no conflicting interests, and all authors have approved the manuscript and agree with its submission to the journal Horticulture, Environment, and Biotechnology (HEB).

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Communicated by Sanghyun Lee.

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Tu, Y., Yan, S. & Li, J. Impact of harvesting time on the chemical composition and quality of fresh lotus seeds. Hortic. Environ. Biotechnol. 61, 735–744 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13580-020-00233-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13580-020-00233-x

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