Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Textural And Microstructural Changes Associated With Post-Harvest Hardening Of Trifoliate Yam (Dioscorea Dumetorum) Pax Tubers, Emmanuel Ohene Afoakwa, Samuel Sefa-Dedeh

Professor Emmanuel Ohene Afoakwa

The textural and microstructural changes associated with the post-harvest hardening phenomenon of Dioscorea dumetorum tubers were studied to determine how texture relates to microstructure during the hardening process. A 2x2x4 factorial experiment with sample treatment,storage conditions and storage time as variables was performed. The tubers were harvested,matured and stored under prevailing tropical ambient conditions (28 _C) and cold room conditions (4 _C) for the study. All the samples were evaluated for their hardness (peak force) and adhesiveness (curve areas). Starch microscopy was done on the freshly harvested tubers,hardened tubers and tubers stored under low temperature conditions (4 _C) during the …