Search Results
Base-to-tip profiles of sucrose, glucose, fructose, and respiration rate were measured for asparagus (Asparagus officinalis L.) spears stored at 0C. Fructose content was ≈3-fold and 4-fold higher than glucose and sucrose, respectively. The highest level of fructose was found in the base and was ≈15-fold higher than the tip. The changes in asparagus metabolism were characterized by loss of sucrose and a high rate of respiration within the first hours after harvest. Sucrose was more rapidly lost than the other sugars during this period. The respiration rate was measured along the length of intact spears at 0.5, 1, 2, and 3 h after harvest. Subsequent measurements were taken after larger time intervals for 23 days. The respiration rate declined rapidly to ≈60% of the initial rate within 12 h, decreasing more slowly thereafter. Initially, the respiration rate of the tip was about four times that of the base, but, after 23 days, the respiration rate of the tip was only twice that of the base. Sucrose content and respiration rates were closely correlated.
Asparagus spears (Asparagus officinalis L.) were placed in solutions of six different concentrations of sucrose (0%, 1%, 2%, 4%, 8%, and 16%) plus citric acid at 0C for 24 h following harvest. The profiles of sucrose, fructose, glucose, and respiration rate along the length of the spear were evaluated throughout storage. The effect of carbohydrate loading on the rate of respiration, sucrose loss, and the shelf life of asparagus was determined. For all treatments, sugars decreased and respiration rate increased from the butt to the tip. The 4% sucrose treatment enhanced the sugar level in the tip ≈5-fold relative to the control. For the 8% and 16% treatments, sucrose tended to accumulate in the base. Spears loaded with higher sucrose concentrations had higher respiration rates than controls up to 3 h after loading. After this time, no significant differences were observed between treatments. For all treatments, respiration rates declined rapidly following harvest, stabilizing in ≈24 h. Weight gain and growth increased as the treatment sucrose concentration decreased. Solution uptake was enhanced by loading at lower humidity levels.
The rate of respiration and the concentrations of sucrose, glucose, and fructose were measured along the length of intact asparagus (Asparagus officinalis cv. Jersey Giant) spears during storage at 0 °C. Carbon dioxide production by each of five sections along the spear was initially high but underwent a rapid and extensive decline within the first 24 hours after harvest with the rate of decline slowing thereafter. The respiration rate was highest at the tip (Section 1), decreasing as the distance from the tip increased (Sections 2 through 5 with Section 5 being more basal). Initially, the respiration rate of the tip was approximately four times that of the base, but after 23 days at 0 °C, the respiration rate of the tip was only twice that of the base. Sugar levels were measured in Sections 1 through 4. Sugar levels declined with time, but increased, unlike respiration, with distance from the tip. Sucrose underwent a rapid decline within the first 24 hours of storage in the tip and Sections 3 and 4. Sucrose depletion was most extensive in the tip, reaching more than 95% by Day 23. Glucose underwent the most rapid decline in Section 2. The relatively higher rate of glucose depletion in Section 2, the zone of rapid cell elongation, may have been to support a relatively higher rate of cell wall biosynthesis in this section. For the first day after harvest, sugar depletion far outstripped hexose equivalents respired as CO2. Afterward, however, the rate of respiration (as hexose equivalents) was similar to the rate of sugar depletion for all sections except the most basipetal, which lost carbohydrate faster than could be accounted for by respired CO2. The data suggest that hexoses were exported from more basipetal tissues to support the metabolic activity of more acropetal sections.