Abstract

Splitting in radish (Raphanus sativus) has a significant commercial impact on growers in terms of product wastage, additional handling and selection costs and rejections by retailers. Although the direct impact on the consumer is not known, it is possible that the split roots and drying of the split surface may reduce sales. Splitting generally occurs within 2 days of harvest after the radish has been placed in a low temperature environment. In a six month project, the effects of irrigation regime and post harvest conditions were studied using glass house grown radish plants. Irrigation was supplied to plants for 3, 4 or 5 weeks from planting. At harvest, after 6 weeks growth, the radish was trimmed before being washed. Yield responded significantly to irrigation treatment with yield reducing as the period of irrigation reduced. Cold storage at 0 degrees C gave fewer splits compared to storage at 6 degrees C and most splits were observed at moderate water stress at 0 degrees C. There was no significant effect on splits where cold storage was delayed by 1.5 h. The work suggests that maximum marketable yield of radish can be achieved by irrigating until one week before harvest, then moving the harvested crop to a cold store at 0 degrees C within 1.5 hours. In addition, storing a sample of radish at 6 degrees C may be a useful predictor of potential splitting and could be a useful quality control approach.

Keywords

radish; postharvest splitting; irrigation; temperature

Published in

Acta Horticulturae
2012, volume: 934, pages: 1347-1351
Book title: XXVIII International Horticultural Congress on Science and Horticulture for People (IHC2010): International Symposium on Postharvest Technology in the Global Market
ISBN: 978-90-66053-78-6
Publisher: M.I. Cantwell, D.P.F. Almeida

Conference

28th International Horticultural Congress on Science and Horticulture for People (IHC) / International Symposium on Postharvest Technology in the Global Market

Authors' information