Abstract:
In order to improve the safety and storage quality of potatoes, the objective of this study was to investigate the effect of ultraviolet C (UV-C) treatment on sprouting suppression and quality of potato during storage. Potatoes were treated with 10 kJ/m
2 UV-C before storage or both before and medium storage (single-phase UV-C treatment, dual-phase UV-C treatment) and the germination rate, weight loss, reducing sugar, total phenols content, phenylalnine ammonia lyase (PAL) activity, gibberellins (GA
3) and
α-solanine content were measured. The results indicated that UV-C treatment could suppress potato sprouting, restrain the growth of GA
3and
α-solanine effectively. Furthermore, dual-phase UV-C treatment had a better effect compared with the control and single-phase UV-C treatment. When stored for 90 days,
α-solanine content in the skin and flesh of dual-phase UV-C treated potatoes were only 71.09%, 65.75% of the control respectively. At 105 d of storage, the germination rate of dual-phase UV-C treatment was 68.78%, the content of reducing sugar was 0.40% and the weight loss rate was 4.71%. In summary, when the dosage and mode of treatment are suitable, UV-C can obtain good effects in potato germination control and quality maintenance, the dual-phase UV-C treatment is more advantageous and has potential for industrial application in future.