Abstract
Effect of oxygen and temperature on the quality change of wakame leaf was studied. The color change of brown wakame leaf into brilliant light green upon boiling was the index of the quality. Raw leaf showed the maximum reflectance at 580 nm and the peak shifted to 560 nm upon boiling. Storage of wakame leaf with oxygen kept a high quality for 12 days showing a bright green color upon boiling like one before storage. Vacuum packed wakame readily lost the bright color. Respiration activity by wakame leaf during the storage with oxygen was proved by the consumption of oxygen and production of carbon dioxide. Storage at 0°C with oxygen gave a better result than those at 5 or 10°C in keeping the quality. These results demonstrated that the storage of wakame leaf with oxygen at low temperature to suppress the respiratory activity is effective in keeping its quality.
