• Horticultural Science & Technology
• /
• v.31 no.2
• /
• pp.211-218
• /
• 2013

This study was conducted to investigate the quality characteristics of eight Kimchi cabbage cultivars and the effect of cold storage on the quality of two kinds of cabbage cultivars, such as 'CR-Nongshim', and 'Ryouckgwang'. Early planted and harvested cultivars at July showed that fresh weight was lower than late harvested cultivars at September, because early harvesting time of July was heavy rainy season at highlands of Gangwon province. The firmness was more than 10 N for all cultivars and 'Cheongock', 'Sanjanggoon', and 'Ryouckgwang' cultivars had high value of firmness among them. No differences among the cultivars were found in appearance, freshness, and texture evaluations at harvest. Sweetness and bitterness had statistical differences and showed high value in 'Ryouckgwang' and in 'CR-Nongshim' and 'Sooho'. Two Kimchi cabbage cultivars such as 'CR-Nongshim' and 'Ryouckgwang' were stored at $0^{\circ}C$, $2^{\circ}C$, $5^{\circ}C$, and room temperature ($25^{\circ}C$) with more than 90% RH. Significant difference was found in weight loss during room and low temperature storage. In general, weight loss of the Kimchi cabbages at room temperature was significantly increased by 15% within 3 days, whereas it was delayed at low temperature until 3 weeks on all Kimchi cabbage cultivars. Firmness of 'CR-Nongshim' was higher than 'Ryouckgwang' but there was no difference within low storage temperatures. Appearance among the sensory factors was a critical indicator to estimate storage periods. On the point of appearance, storage period at $0^{\circ}C$ was 1 week and $2^{\circ}C$ and $5^{\circ}C$ was 3 weeks and 1 week in 'CR-Nongshim' cultivar, respectively. The storage period of 'Ryouckgwang' cultivar was 2 weeks, 4 weeks, and 2 weeks, respectively. Conclusively, storage at $2^{\circ}C$ with more than 90% RH was recommended as optimum temperature to maintain quality in both cultivars.