Preservation of parsnip root vegetable depending on the degree of ripeness, varietal features, and storage techniques

Abstract

The degree of ripening of vegetables, fruits and berries affects their preservation. It is not possible to detect the degree of ripening of parsnip by the size of a root crop, since growing conditions and agricultural technology play significant role in this case. It is difficult to distinguish taste and texture of parsnips with a growing season from 120 to 180 days. Therefore, the influence of the degree of ripening on the preservation quality of parsnip root crops is of great practical interest.We substantiated theoretically and confirmed experimentally the smallest mass loss (5.0–6.7 %) and the highest preservation quality (93.3–90.3 %) in parsnips with a growing season of 150 days. Within the growing season of 140–175 days, growing season duration affects preservation of parsnip root crops by 21.0 % more, characteristics of a variety ‒ only by 1.1 %, the interaction of the studied factors – by 68 %, other factors (weather conditions, growing technology) ‒ by 9.9 %.We found that diseases affected unwashed root crops stored in open boxes by 0.7 % more than washed ones. Storing of washed root crops in plastic bags increased their proneness to diseases by almost 3.5 times than unwashed ones. Dry substances accumulated from 24.1 % in root crops of parsnip (in the Petrik variety) to 27.7 % (in the Student variety). We noticed the high content of dry substances in the Boris variety ‒ 25.8 %. The Petrik variety contained 1.2 % of monosaccharides, 3.7 % of sucrose, and 5.0 % of total sugars. The total sugar content in the Boris variety of 5.4 % was at the level of control. The largest total amount of sugars was contained in the roots for the Student variety ‒ 5.7 %. We established that the lowest content of vitamin C in root crops was in the Petrik variety ‒ 9.9 mg/100 g, the content of vitamin C was 10.1 and 10.2 mg/100 g in the Boris and Student varieties, respectively. The nitrate content in parsnip roots was low for the Student variety ‒ 60 mg/kg, and it was the highest for the Boris variety ‒ 100 mg/kg.We established that the mass loss of parsnip root crops depends on storage conditions by 33 %, peculiarities of a variety affects only 1 %, an influence of the interaction of factors (storage conditions, peculiarities of a variety) ‒ by 64 %, other factors ‒ 2 %. The use of a polyethylene film for packaging reduces the mass loss of root crops of the Petrik variety parsnip by 2.1–4.7 times, the Student variety by 1.9–3.7 times, the Boris variety – by 2.3–3.1 times comparing to the storage of root crops in open boxes.