Effects of different temperature and humidity on the quality of Chinese yam (Rhizoma dioscoreae) during storage

Chinese yam is easily mouldy and decayed during the process of storage and transportation because of high water content in the tissue of tubers associated with injures during or after harvesting which makes them vulnerable to micro-organisms disease. The temperature and the humidity as vital factors in the preservation were studied. Graded temperature and humidity were adopted to observe the effects on the preservation quality of Chinese yams. The results showed that room temperature (18~23 °C) combined with low humidity (RH, relative humidity 15%~20%) had good effects on maintaining the quality of Chinese yams. On day 80, indexes including PPO, MDA, TSS and firmness of yams stored at room temperature were 5.64 U/g-FW, 0.74 μ mol/L, 1.83%, 10.80×10⁶ N/m², and those of samples stored in RH 15%~20% were 2.72 U/g-FW, 0.49 μ mol/L, 1.81%, 10.59×10⁶ N/m², respectively, which were better than other storage condition.