Abstract
Kimchi made from small-type (Altari) radishes grown in late spring is more pungent than that made from autumn-grown Altari radishes, which poses a major challenge in the kimchi industry. The mechanism through which the pungency of Altari radish changes seasonally has not been intensively investigated. In this study, three small-type radish cultivars with different pungency levels were cultivated in spring and autumn to identify the factors affecting the seasonal-dependent pungency of small-type radishes. The contents of pungency-related metabolite glucoraphasatin and other polar metabolites were analyzed. Although a previous study reported that the glucoraphasatin concentration affects the pungency of radish, in the current study, the concentration of neither glucoraphasatin nor its hydrolysis product (raphasatin) could fully explain the change in the pungency associated with radish cultivars grown in the two seasons. The change in the pungency of radish by season may be explained by the ratio of raphasatin content to total sweetness of sugars. In addition, the polar metabolites that differ with season were analyzed to identify seasonal biomarkers and understand the seasonal changed physio-biochemistry.
Highlights
Radish (Raphanus sativus L., 2n = 18) is an important root vegetable belonging to the Brassicaceae family; it has been historically cultivated in China, India, Japan, Korea, European countries, and America [1]
As analyzed by the two-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) for season and cultivar, the changes in the glucoraphasatin content in the roots were affected by the season (57%, p < 0.01, F = 18.38; Figure 2B) while glucoraphasatin content in the roots was not significantly affected by cultivar effect
We found that the difference in glucoraphasatin content amongst the three different cultivars was not significant in autumn season while spring season showed significant differences among the three cultivars
Summary
Radish (Raphanus sativus L., 2n = 18) is an important root vegetable belonging to the Brassicaceae family; it has been historically cultivated in China, India, Japan, Korea, European countries, and America [1]. In Korea, many radish F1 hybrid cultivars have been developed for seasonal cropping systems (Autumn, Winter, Spring, and Summer) and consumer tastes (big root, small root; Altari radish, young leaf; Yeolmu, and processing for pickling) [2]. Kimchi is a unique and traditional fermented food in Korea with a historical background of over 1000 years [5]; 467,000 tons of kimchi were produced in Korea in 2018 [6]. Kimchi is mainly prepared by fermenting kimchi cabbage or radish using lactic acid bacteria [7]
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