Authors
Title
Abstract
In the study, the content of biologically active substances and the micro-biological quality were determined of some selected low processed vegetables and sprouts available in the market and stored at temperatures of 0 ºC and 6 ºC. With regard to the lower of the two temperatures of storing, it was found that this temperature had no explicitly more beneficial effect on the quality of vegetables. A reason why there was no differentiation could be probably the synthesis of chlorophyll and carotenoids occurring in some vegetables stored at 6 ºC and with limited access to light. The lower temperature of storing appeared to be better solely from the microbiological point of view. From among all the analysed products, the cut iceberg lettuce was characterized by a peculiarly low content of polyphenols, chlorophylls, carotenoids, dry matter, and vitamin C. No clear dependency was observed between the activity of polyphenolooxidase enzyme and the changes in the content of phenolic compounds in the vegetables during their storage. The total microbial count in the products studied ranged between 105 and 109 cfu/g, the total count of Enterobacteriaceae bacteria: between 104 and 107 cfu/g, and the total count of moulds and yeasts was from 102 to 106 cfu/g.
Keywords
low processed vegetables, sprouts, storage, microbiological contamination, chlorophylls, carotenoids, polyphenols, vitamin C