Alfalfa sprouts were cultivated at 18°C, 23°C and 28°C and their growth rate and quality changes were examined.
Alfalfa sprouts grew better at rather low temperatures compared with black matpe sprouts and the fastest growth rate was obtained at 23°C.
Analytical examination of chemical compositions of the alfalfa sprouts showed that the degradation of protein and the production of free aminoacid occurred markedly with rise of cultivation temperature. The β-amylase activity was also higher at raised temperature. But the contents of ascorbic acid, a sitologically important factor, and phenols in the sprouts were scarcely affected by the cultivation temperature.
Alfalfa sprouts cultivated at 23°C and 28°C for six days were stored at 1°C, 6°C and 20°C, and the deterioration of freshness during storage was examined. The freshness was kept longer in the sprouts cultivated at 23°C as compared with that at 28°C.

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In this paper, physiological changes of pulp sections of eggplant fruits were examined with reference to the mechanism of alleviation of the chilling injury by conditioning.
The conditioning was done by storing the eggplant fruits packaged in perforated polyethylene bag at 10°C or 20°C for 5 days. Immediately after harvest or after conditioning, pulp sections (2×2×10mm) were prepared, washed by distilled water four times, then incubated in water or chlorogenic acid solution (10^-3M) at 1°C for 48 hours.
The sections showed browning, K ion leakage, decrease of phenolic substrates and ascorbic acid contents, and increase of polyphenol oxidase (PPO) activity during the incubation. Those changes were accelerated by addition of chlorogenic acid. The conditioning suppressed the changes during incubation and the effect of chlorogenic acid. Effects of conditioning mentioned above were more obvious in the fruits treated at 20°C than at 10°C.

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The effectiveness of modified atmosphere (MA) packaging storage of Shii-take Mushroom (Lentinus edodes (Bark) Sing.) was examined from the aspect of browning and polyphenoloxidase (PPO) activities.
(1) In non-hermetically packed Shii-take, browning occurred after 5 days storage at 10°C and after 3 weeks storage at 0°C. On the other hand, in Shii-take sealed in 100, um polyethylene film pouch and stored at 0°C (MA storage), browning wasn't observed for 4 weeks.
(2) Shii-take preserved for 4 weeks under MA condition at 0°C was exposed to air and stored non-hermetically at 10°C. Under such condition, the rate of browning was the same as that in fresh Shii-take.
(3) In the assay of PPO activity of shii-take, high reaction rate was obtained at pH 4. 5, 6. 0 and 7.0. PPO activity measured at pH 4. 5 changed according to browning. During MA storage, increase of PPO activity was not observed. And after opening of MA package, time course of. PPO activity change was the same as in flesh shii-take.
In conclusion, MA packing storage prevents shii-take from increase in PPO activities and browning. And on exposure to air, no adverse effect was observed.

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