Abstract
Radish sprouts (Raphanus sativus L.) harvested in a commercial operation were kept for a day at 20°C air temperature under 0 (darkness) or 50μmol m-2s-1 photosynthetic photon flux density (PPFD) (pre-storage treatment) and stored for 16 days at 5°C air temperature under 0 or 5μmol m-2s-1 PPFD (storage treatment) . The pre-storage treatment was to examine the effect of illumination during shipping conditions. For treatments under light, white light was provided continuously (24 h d-1 photoperiod) with cool white fluorescent lamps. The best quality was obtained under conditions where light was provided throughout the pre-storage and the storage period. Dark storage caused the shoot elongation and chlorophyll degradation. Light in low temperature storage was shown to contribute to keeping high postharvest quality of the radish sprouts.
