Review on tropical root and tuber crops. II. Physiological disorders in freshly stored roots and tubers.

Abstract

Tropical root and tubers, including cassava, sweet potato, yams and aroids, have been reported to show an increase in respiratory activity after harvest and injury and subsequent storage in association with their deterioration. This leads to loss of water and carbohydrate. Cassava roots often show discoloration of the tissue with development of pigments in the xylem vessels (vascular streaking or primary/physiological deterioration). This has been established to be enzymatic in nature. Pruning the cassava stem, leaving about a 20- to 30-cm stub prior to harvest, could delay the onset of primary deterioration. Sweet potato roots and yam tubers show a peak respiratory activity immediately or 1 d after harvest. The respiratory rate, however, declines during the subsequent storage period. Yam tubers show a further increase in respiratory activity at the breakage of dormancy occurring at the time of sprouting. Dormancy in yam tubers has been studied in some detail. Different species of yams vary in their dormancy period, a major factor that accounts for the variation in their storage life. Little information is available on the dormancy of sweet potato and aroids. Tropical roots and tubers exhibit "chilling injury" when stored at temperatures below a critical level. The critical cold-storage temperatures range between 10 and 15 degrees C for different tropical root and tuber crops.