VITAMIN C CONTENT OF VEGETABLE AMARANTH DURING MODIFIED ATMOSPHERIC STORAGE

Abstract

Post-harvest losses of leafy vegetables are estimated to be over 30% and are generally caused by poor handling and storage conditions. An experiment was conducted using leafy amaranth to determine the changes in physicochemical properties of the vegetable under modified atmospheric storage. Fresh vegetable amaranth grown at JKUAT farm was harvested after 8 weeks. The samples were packed in active bags, which modify the composition of the internal atmosphere of the packaged samples. Once packaged, the vegetables were stored in cold room at temperatures between 5o-25oC and relative humidity of 75%.The samples stored at room temperature (25o±2oC) was the control. Ascorbic acid was determined using HPLC technique. Ascorbic acid content in the amaranth was 67μg/g. The results indicated that loss of ascorbic acid was greater in the control samples as compared to the lower temperatures. The highest loss of ascorbic acid occurred at samples stored at room temperature(88% loss) after 4 days of storage while the lowest loss was observed at 5oC(55% loss) after 23 days of storage. Based on this study, it is suggested that shelf life extension and nutrient preservation of vegetable amaranth can be achieved through modified atmospheric storage at temperatures of 5oC.