Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2009, 10(12), 5370-5380; doi:10.3390/ijms10125370
Article

Effects of Genetic, Pre- and Post-Harvest Factors on Phenolic Content and Antioxidant Capacity of White Asparagus Spears

Eleftherios Papoulias 1 email, Anastasios S. Siomos 1,* email, Athanasios Koukounaras 1 email, Dimitrios Gerasopoulos 2 email and Evangelos Kazakis 3 email
1 Department of Horticulture, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 54124 Thessaloniki, Greece 2 Department of Food Science and Technology, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 54124 Thessaloniki, Greece 3 Department of Agricultural Development, Democritus University of Thrace, 6820 New Orestiada, Greece
* Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Received: 2 November 2009 / Accepted: 14 December 2009 / Published: 16 December 2009
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Phenolics and Polyphenolics)
PDF Full-text Download PDF Full-Text [165 KB, uploaded 16 December 2009 16:06 CET]
Abstract: The effects of genetic, pre-harvest (season of harvest, spear diameter, spear portion and spear tip color) and post-harvest factors (storage and domestic preparation practices, e.g., peeling and cooking) on total phenolic, flavonoid and ascorbic acid content of white asparagus spears and their correlation with antioxidant capacity (DPPH and FRAP) were studied. Results showed that genetic material was important for the total phenolic content but not season of harvest, spear diameter or storage. Violet spear tips and apical spear portions showed the largest amount of total phenolics. Peeling did not affect total phenolics in fresh asparagus, whereas it reduced their content in stored asparagus, while cooking resulted in an increase in both fresh and stored asparagus. However, the soluble extract of total phenolics and flavonoids were minor and the missing significance of phenolics and flavonoids in antioxidant capacity of white asparagus spears depends on these small amounts.
Keywords: asparagus; cultivars; harvesting season; spear thickness; portion; color; storage; total phenolics; antioxidant capacity

Article Statistics

Click here to load and display the download statistics.

Cite This Article

MDPI and ACS Style

Papoulias, E.; Siomos, A.S.; Koukounaras, A.; Gerasopoulos, D.; Kazakis, E. Effects of Genetic, Pre- and Post-Harvest Factors on Phenolic Content and Antioxidant Capacity of White Asparagus Spears. Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2009, 10, 5370-5380.

AMA Style

Papoulias E, Siomos AS, Koukounaras A, Gerasopoulos D, Kazakis E. Effects of Genetic, Pre- and Post-Harvest Factors on Phenolic Content and Antioxidant Capacity of White Asparagus Spears. International Journal of Molecular Sciences. 2009; 10(12):5370-5380.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Papoulias, Eleftherios; Siomos, Anastasios S.; Koukounaras, Athanasios; Gerasopoulos, Dimitrios; Kazakis, Evangelos. 2009. "Effects of Genetic, Pre- and Post-Harvest Factors on Phenolic Content and Antioxidant Capacity of White Asparagus Spears." Int. J. Mol. Sci. 10, no. 12: 5370-5380.

Int. J. Mol. Sci. EISSN 1422-0067 Published by MDPI AG, Basel, Switzerland RSS E-Mail Table of Contents Alert