Abstract
Green leafy vegetables are the most underexploited class of vegetablesdespite high nutritional value. Reports on nutritional composition andstorage of some of the fresh leaves are available but the storage behaviorof dehydrated leaves apparently has not been studied. Therefore, in thepresent study, two green leafy vegetables, savoy beets (Beta vulgarisvar. bengalensis) and fenugreek (Trigonella foenumgraecum) were dehydrated in a low temperature drier and stored for9 months under ambient and cold stored conditions after packaging insingle or double layers of high density polyethylene film (200 gauge). Thequality was determined on the basis of retention of β-carotene,ascorbic acid and chlorophyll, and the extent of browning during storage.Retention of these quality characteristics depended on the crop and storageconditions. Double packed and cold stored samples of fenugreek retained67% β-carotene, whereas savoy beet leaves retained only 57% ofthe initial β-carotene under similar conditions. Similarly, higherretention of ascorbic acid and chlorophyll, and lower browning wasobserved in double packed, cold stored samples. Results indicated theefficacy of double packed and cold stored samples over other combinations.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Roy SK (1996) New technologies for post harvest management of horticultural crops. In: Kaul GL, Dadlani NK (eds), Strategies for Horticulture Development in India. Horticulture Division, Department of Agriculture & Cooperation, Ministry of Agriculture, Government of India, pp 155–174.
Gopalan C (1996) An overview-combating vitamin A deficiency and micronutrient malnutrition through dietary improvement. In: Subhadra Seshadri (ed), Use of Carotene Rich Food to Combat Vitamin A Deficiency in India — A Multycentric Study. Nutrition Foundation of India.
Maeda EE (1985) Effect of solar dehydration on amino acid pattern and available lysine content in four tropical leafy vegetables. Ecol Food Nutr 16: 273–279.
Bolin HR, Salunkhe DK (1982) Food dehydration by solar energy. CRC Crit Rev Food Sci Nutr 16: 327–354.
Singh J, Paul S, Thapar VK (1990) Polyethylene sheet cover as a substitute of glass top in solar cabinet dryer. J Res Punjab Agric Univ 27: 108–116.
Bajaj M, Agrawal P, Minhas KS, Sidhu JS (1993) Effect of blanching treatment on quality characteristic of dehydrated fenugreek leaves. J Food Sci Technol 30: 196–198.
Singh H, Bawa AS, Ahmed J (1997) Dehydration characteristics of some green leafy vegetables. Ind Food Pack 51: 5–15.
Ranganna S (1986) Handbook of Analysis and Quality Control for Fruit and Vegetable Products. New Delhi: Tata McGraw Hill Publishing Co. Ltd..
Methods of Vitamin Assay (1966) Association of Vitamin Chemists. New York: Interscience Publishers.
Hiscox JD, Israelstam GF (1979) A method for extraction of chlorophyll from leaf tissue without maceration. Can J Bot 57: 1332–1334.
Thorat AK, Bhatia BS, Kuppuswami S, Bhatia DS (1963) Further studies on drying of Indian grapes. Food Res 12: 97–114.
Wink WA (1946) Determining the moisture equilibrium curves of hygroscopic materials. Ind Eng Chem Anal Ed 18: 251–252.
Okoli EC, Nmorka OG, Unaegbu MF (1988) Blanching and storage of some Nigerian vegetables. Int J Food Sci Technol 23: 639–641.
Panse VG, Sukhatme PV (1985) Statistical Methods for Agricultural Workers. New Delhi: ICAR Publication.
O'Neill MB, Shafiur Rahman M, Perera CO, Smith B, Melton LD (1998) Color and density of apple cubes dried in air and modified atmosphere. Int J Food Properties 1: 197–205.
Gogus F, Eren S (1998) Effect of temperature and pH on non enzymatic browning in minced dried pepper during storage. Turk J Eng Environ Sci 22: 33–38.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Negi, P., Roy, S. Retention of quality characteristics of dehydrated green leaves during storage. Plant Foods Hum Nutr 56, 285–295 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1011197824163
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1011197824163