Evaluation of antioxidant properties in elephant foot yam (Amorphophallus paeoniifolius Dennst-Nicolson) pickles

Abstract

Elephant foot yams are perishable foods; they required processing technologies that preserves chemical and nutritional characteristics of fresh forms. The principle objective of this research was to analyze the antioxidant properties to contribute the diversification of food. Therefore, two improved cultivars viz. BCA-1 and IGMA-1 have been selected for antioxidant rich pickle preparation. The tubers were made into cubes, blanched (20 minutes at 8 kg/cm2) and subjected to lactic acid fermentation in pre-standardized brine solutions (20% common salt). The final product evaluated for various nutritional and organoleptic evaluations and found to have a titrable acidity (0.50-0.64%), ascorbic acid (2.56-3.82 mg/100 g), β-carotene (337.34-370.71 μg/100g), total phenol (43.15-53.51 mg/100g), microbial load of bacterial population (9.17-90.83 cfu/g) and microbial load of yeast population (0.00-19.67 cfu/g) during storage period. The pickling process of elephant foot yam caused a significant decrease in their antioxidant component and activity.