Persimmon Fruit Affects Bacterial Growth, Hardness, Vitamin C and Chlorophyll Content of Soybean Sprouts during Storage

Soybean sprouts have been established as an important year-round vegetable in Korea, China, and Japan for a long time. Very few studies on quality of soybean sprouts during storage have been reported so far although considerably large number of reports have been available for production techniques. Since persimmon fruit powder is reported to have positive influence on yield and nutritional value of soybean sprouts, the objective of the present study was to investigate the effect of persimmon fruit powder on quality of soybean sprouts during storage at room temperature (20±1°C) and at low temperature (4±1°C). Bacterial count was low in treated soybean sprouts as compared to that of untreated control. Vitamin C content was high in treated soybean sprouts but the rate of its depletion was high in untreated control sample. Chlorophyll content was not affected during storage at room temperature. Storage caused decrease in hardness of soybean sprouts and the rate of decrement in hardness was higher at untreated control than in treated samples. This study showed that soybean seeds soaking in water containing persimmon fruit powder could help reduce bacterial infection, resist in depleting vitamin C content, and maintain the texture of soybean sprouts during storage.