• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.34 no.6
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• pp.1048-1056
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• 2002

Quality of fresh ginger deteriorates rapidly during low temperature storage, and its storage life is short due to sprouting and microbial spoilage. The objectives of this research were to develop, using additives, a minced ginger product, which could maintain acceptable quality for over 30 days, and to investigate its quality changes during the cold storage. Storage stability of minced ginger product was investigated from the standpoint of the inhibition of brown discoloration, gas formation and liquid-solid separation. Fresh ginger was peeled and ground to produce minced ginger (control). Sodium bisulfite, L-cysteine, NaCl, sodium benzoate, modified starch, and/or xanthan gum were added to the control to minimize quality loss during storage, and to develop an optimum formula (A) of minced ginger. Samples were packed in Nylon/PE films, stored at $5^{\circ}C$, sampled at a 30-day interval, and subjected to quality evaluations. Changes in pH, surface color, gas formation, liquid-solid separation, contents of free amino acids, free sugars, organic acids, and fatty acids were determined. Gas formation was effectively inhibited in samples with sodium benzoate and/or NaCl. Samples with xanthan gum did not result in liquid-solid separation. L-Cysteine and sodium bisulfite were effective in controlling discoloration. pH decreased during storage in all samples, except sample A. Organic acid contents of all samples increased during storage, with lactic acid content showing the highest increase. Free amino acid content decreased with increasing storage time. Free sugar content of all samples decreased during storage. Sensory results showed sample A maintained acceptable quality until 90 days of storage. These results suggest that quality of minced ginger could be successfully maintained with the additions of selected additives for up to 90 days.