Abstract
Zingiber officinale is a tropical produce which is susceptible to chilling injury due to improper storage temperature management. Therefore, the objective of the study was to investigate the development of chilling injury (CI) in ‘Bentong’ ginger rhizome. Fresh ‘Bentong’ ginger rhizomes were harvested at 9-10 months and were stored at 5, 15 and 25°C for 0, 8, 16, and 24 days. The treatments were evaluated for the effects of storage temperatures and storage durations on postharvest chemical qualities of ginger rhizomes. The experiment showed significant interaction effects between storage temperature and storage durations for total flavonoid contents (TFC), total phenolic contents (TPC), 6- gingerol, 6-shogaol, and DPPH radical scavenging activity of the treated rhizome. Ginger stored at 15°C showed the highest TPC at 16 days of storage and then reduced throughout the storage as compared to the ginger stored at 5°C and 25°C. The 6-gingerol content increased from day 0 to day 16 and resulted in an optimum content at 66.7 mg/g fresh weight when it was stored at 15°C. 6-shogaol was identified in smaller quantities within the range of 1.52 to 3.11 mg/100 g of fresh weight. A similar trend was also observed in 6 -shogoal after 24 days of the storage. DPPH scavenging activity showed that storage at 5 and 25°C resulted in a decrease of DPPH inhibition along with storage durations. Therefore, it was suggested that the ginger was best kept at 15°C up to 16 days of storage in order to maintain the postharvest qualities and chemical properties of ginger.
Highlights
Ginger is known as Zingiber officinale, Zingiberaceae family, a perennial herb that is grown as an annual crop
Bentong is the district with the highest production of ginger in Pahang which has reached to 7,382.399 kg in 2016 which is equivalent to RM 64 million of profits (DOA, 2016)
Total phenolic and flavonoid contents were determined as their role in the prevention of diseases and various biological activities (Rahmani et al, 2014) The total phenolic contents (TPC) was expressed as milligram of gallic acid per 100 g of fresh weight of ginger
Summary
Ginger is known as Zingiber officinale, Zingiberaceae family, a perennial herb that is grown as an annual crop. Ginger consumption as medicinal herbs has been practised since ancient time in treating various illnesses such as nausea, menstruation disorder, inflammation, cough and cold, food poisoning, epilepsy, and even cancer (Shukla and Singh, 2007). The ability of ginger to reduce the symptoms of those illnesses is related to the therapeutic properties including antimicrobial, antioxidant due to the presence of gingerol and shogaol and its derivatives (Kumar et al, 2011). In 2016, total production of ginger in Malaysia was recorded to be 13.4 metric tonnes and Pahang produced the highest followed by Selangor, Kelantan, Pulau Pinang, Kedah and Johor. The high local demand for ginger rhizomes leads to insufficient supply for the local consumers. This has initiated an importation of ginger from China, Thailand and Indonesia to Malaysia. The deteriorating effects have shown that ginger rhizomes were intolerance to chilling temperatures
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