Activities of Nitrate reductase, nitrite reductase, some dehydrogenase and glutamine synthetase in Spinach (Spinacia oleracea LINN. cv. new asia) and spuash (Cucurbita moschata DUCH. cv. kogiku) were examined in relation to changes of nitrate contents during storage of these materials. The methods to maintaine the activity of nitrate reductase were also investigated in order to reduce nitrate content during storage of spinach. (1) There were no significant changes in nitrate content of spinach during the storage, and the activity of nitrate reductase declined markedly at the earlier period of storage. On the contrary, nitrate content of squash decreased gradually at the earlier period of storage and decreased sharply at the later period of storage. The activity of nitrate reductase of squash increased gradually during the storage. (2) Activity of nitrite reductase was almost constant in both spinach and squash during the storage. (3) Some dehydrogenases which form the cofactors NADH or NADPH, used by nitrate reductase or nitrite reductase, were analyzed in both materials during the storage, In spinach, activities of glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase, malic enzyme, glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase and glutamine synthetase except for glutamate dehydrogenase decreased during the storage. On the other hand, in squash, the activities of dehydrogenases increased except for glutamine synthetase during the storage. (4) Effect of ambient gas or film-package on the nitrate content during the storage of spinach was as follows: The treatment of 100% CO
2 and the packaging with polyethlene bags did not affect the change in nitrate content. The treatment of N
2 (100%) reduced nitrate content in leaf blade of spinach and kept nitrate reductase high, but the slight accumulation of nitrite was observed. (5) The treatment of propyl alcohol (1%), N
6-BA (0.1mM), and cyclic AMP (0.1mM) inhibited the decrease in nitrate reductase activity during the storage of spinach.
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