Abstract
This experiment was carried out to determine the effects of gamma radiation storage, CA-storage. polyethylene packaging, and cooking on nitrate and nitrite contents of potato tuber.
Nitrate and nitrite contents in potato tubers considerably varied according to the size of the tuber, individual potato plant, and different fields. But nitrate content was almost the same among the potato tubers of similar weight from the same plant. There was found more nitrate content in stem-end of potato tuber than in bud-end. Nitrate and nitrite were stable to heating for cooking, but the losses of nitrate and nitrite were caused by exudation from potato tissue into the cooking water. During the storage in the conditions of low concentration of oxygen that inhibited the respiration of potato tubers, nitrate decreased and nitrite increased slightly. In the gamma-irradiated potato tubers, nitrate increased and nitrite decreased immediately after irradiaton, and both contents of nitrate and nitrite gradually decreased during the subsequent storage.
