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Abstract
Sweet corn (Zea mays L.) was evaluated for sensory quality and carbohydrate composition at harvest and after storage at 0° or 10°C for 2 weeks. Total sugar (reducing sugar plus sucrose) declined more quickly during storage at 10° than at 0° in all cultivars, but the relative changes in sucrose and reducing sugars during storage were often complex. Hedonic (like/dislike) and sweetness scores awarded by taste panelists were significantly correlated with each other and with reducing sugar, sucrose, and total sugar concentrations only after storage. The highest correlations were between sucrose concentration and hedonic taste scores (r = 0.76, P < 0.01) and between sucrose concentration and sensory sweetness scores (r = 0.73, P < 0.01). Starch concentration varied with cultivar, but was not correlated with sensory quality. Water-soluble polysaccharide concentration varied with cultivar, storage time, and storage temperature, but did not correlate with sensory quality.
Abstract
Euphorbia pulcherrima Willd. is a popular Christmas flowering pot plant that occasionally is used as a cut flower. Popularity of the poinsettia cut flower is limited by its short postharvest life. When the poinsettia is cut, a milky latex excreted from the cut stem accumulates and prevents uptake of water, resulting in rapid wilting of the leaves and bracts (2). Several methods of preventing latex flow have been proposed, including heat searing, dipping in boiling water, and dipping in alcohol (2, 3). Freyermuth et al. (1) showed that treating the cut stems with al cohol was the best method for improvement of the postharvest quality of cut poinsettias. The objective of this study was to determine when the alcohol pretreatment could be applied, and whether a flower preservative had any effect on postharvest life of cut poinsettia.