Cellular Physiology of Textural Change in Harvested Asparagus

Heyes, J.A.; Burton, V. M.; Vre, L. A. De

doi:10.17660/actahortic.1998.464.71

Cited by 9 publications

(15 citation statements)

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“…The tensile testing results are consistent with those reported by Heyes et al, 36 who found postharvest increases in tensile strength of the epidermal and subepidermal tissues of the spear. The fact that these external tissues became stronger with time and were increasingly dif®cult to stretch is the opposite of what would be expected if cell walls were being broken down.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 92%

“…Loss of quality is brought about by the high respiratory activity developed in the ®rst hours of postharvest storage, and this has previously been reported as the main cause of deterioration of the stored spears. 36,37 Analysis of white asparagus showed that the texture of the spear is much lower in the upper than in the middle and lower sections. 30 With storage, no signi®cant changes were observed in either the middle or the apical section, while important increases were found in the lower section, indicating that thè toughening' process was limited to this section.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Mechanical properties of green asparagus

2002

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The mechanical properties of three sections (upper, middle and lower) of the spears of green asparagus (Asparagus of®cinalis) were investigated as affected by storage and cooking. A range of methods based on cutting, compression and puncture was employed to measure mechanical properties of spear sections. A transverse puncture test was the most suitable for measuring mechanical properties of fresh and cooked spear sections, and it was observed that strength increased along the spear from the upper to the lower section of fresh asparagus. Postharvest storage resulted in strengthening, mainly located in the last portion of the stem. A softening phenomenon was detected in every section as a consequence of cooking. The results of a tensile test on two different tissue types separated from the middle and lower portions of the stem showed that the external tissues were stronger and stiffer than the internal tissues, and both increased in strength and stiffness after 3 days of storage. However, the effect of cooking was different: while the external tissues decreased in stiffness and strength, as expected, a signi®cant increase was observed for the internal tissues of the stem.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 92%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mechanical properties of green asparagus

2002

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“…Desiccation stress may accompany commercial asparagus storage (Redondo-Cuenca et al, 1997;Heyes et al, 1998). It is well established that water losses affect tissue mechanical properties as a result of a direct effect on water potential (cf.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, water shortage also induces cell wall adjustment in many plants (Neumann, 1995;Weisz et al, 1995) leading to altered cell wall structure and chemical and physical properties. Hence, any desiccation stress (Redondo-Cuenca et al, 1997;Heyes et al, 1998) response of the asparagus shoots could be excluded. However, in our study, water content and water potential of stored spears remained more or less constant throughout the experiments irrespective of the temperature (Fig.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Cold acclimation leads to cell wall thickening (Kubacka-Zę balska & Kacperska, 1999) and stiffening (Rajashekar & Lafta, 1996;Gó mez et al, 2005) and an increase in phenylalanine ammonia-lyase activity (Solecka & Kacperska, 2003). Furthermore, when desiccation stress accompanies storage (Heyes et al, 1998), it too may result in cell wall adjustment (Neumann, 1995;Weisz et al, 1995). Furthermore, when desiccation stress accompanies storage (Heyes et al, 1998), it too may result in cell wall adjustment (Neumann, 1995;Weisz et al, 1995).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Cell wall biochemistry and biomechanics of harvested white asparagus shoots as affected by temperature

Herppich

Huyskens-Keil

2008

Annals of Applied Biology

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The effects of temperature on the dynamics of changes in shoot mechanical properties, cell wall components, relevant soluble sugars and respiration activity of harvested white asparagus spears were investigated during a 7-day storage period. All functional cell wall components of asparagus spears increased closely temperature dependent. The content of soluble glucose declined with a similar temporal dynamics and to a comparable degree, indicating a major carbon flow of this storage sugar into cell walls (60-70%). Irrespective of temperature, the contents of stored soluble fructose and sucrose remained more or less constant. Lower temperatures reduced cell wall development but do not significantly affect the relative carbon flow from storage sugars into cell walls or maintenance respiration. Compared with cell walls, maintenance respiration is by far the smaller carbon sink in stored asparagus spears. Temperature differentially affects the absolute amount and the relative contribution of the different cell wall components and the temporal dynamics of changes in structural carbohydrate and lignin content. At higher temperatures, secondary cell wall thickening resulted mainly from a large increase in cellulose content. The pronounced increase in the fractions of cellulose and especially lignin may stress the important role of lignin in cell wall strengthening. While the fraction of cell wall proteins decreased, those of hemicellulose and the pectic components were not influenced.

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Mechanical properties of white and green asparagus: changes related to modifications of cell wall components

et al. 2004

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The changes of texture that take place in white and green asparagus during storage and cooking are, in large part, determined by the composition and structure of the cell walls. Several instrumental methods have been applied to three sections of the spears to investigate the physico-chemical properties that contribute to the values of texture. Cutting the spears with a razor blade is the most appropriate method for quantifying and comparing the texture of white and green asparagus and, among the different parameters that can be calculated from the curves registered during asparagus cutting, strength and toughness have been used for determining changes of texture. Post-harvest storage caused an increase of texture mainly located in the lower portions of the white spears. The process of toughening also affected the lower section of the green spears, but to a lesser extent. Cooking resulted in a softening, mostly in the apical section of the stem. Additional information about the physico-chemical properties of different plant tissues has been obtained by applying a tensile test to the internal and external tissues separated from asparagus sections.

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Cellular Physiology of Textural Change in Harvested Asparagus

Cited by 9 publications

References 0 publications

Mechanical properties of green asparagus

Mechanical properties of green asparagus

Cell wall biochemistry and biomechanics of harvested white asparagus shoots as affected by temperature

Mechanical properties of white and green asparagus: changes related to modifications of cell wall components

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