Retention of quality characteristics of dehydrated green leaves during storage

Green leafy vegetables are the most underexploited class of vegetablesdespite high nutritional value. Reports on nutritional composition andstorage of some of the fresh leaves are available but the storage behaviorof dehydrated leaves apparently has not been studied. Therefore, in thepresent study, two green leafy vegetables, savoy beets (Beta vulgarisvar. bengalensis) and fenugreek (Trigonella foenumgraecum) were dehydrated in a low temperature drier and stored for9 months under ambient and cold stored conditions after packaging insingle or double layers of high density polyethylene film (200 gauge). Thequality was determined on the basis of retention of -carotene,ascorbic acid and chlorophyll, and the extent of browning during storage.Retention of these quality characteristics depended on the crop and storageconditions. Double packed and cold stored samples of fenugreek retained67% -carotene, whereas savoy beet leaves retained only 57% ofthe initial -carotene under similar conditions. Similarly, higherretention of ascorbic acid and chlorophyll, and lower browning wasobserved in double packed, cold stored samples. Results indicated theefficacy of double packed and cold stored samples over other combinations.