Roots stored in air suffered severe weight loss. This was a limiting factor in long-term air storage, but not in CA storage. The firmness of ginseng roots also declined during extended air storage. However, in CA storage the root firmness was maintained for five months. Starch content decreased with the extended storage periods. After one month of storage there was a big decrease in starch content, concomitant with a sharp increase in soluble sugar content. Starch seems to degrade to soluble sugars in a manner comparable to the low temperature sweetening of potato tubers, in which storage at 0° - 6°C causes sucrose and reducing sugars to accumulate. In ginseng roots, sucrose, fructose and glucose were the major soluble sugar components accumulated, with sucrose predominating. Soluble sugar content increased until three months after harvest and then decreased. This decline was a consequence of the limited amounts of degradable starch available, and the progressive catabolism of soluble sugars by respiration. In CA storage, conversion of starch to sugar occurred more slowly than under low temperature air storage. Content of major ginsenosides (Rgl, Re, Rd, Rc, Rb2, and Rb1) decreased during storage, but Rg1 content showed little change. Decrease of ginsenoside contents was less marked in CA storage than in air storage. The severity of internal cavity formation gradually increased during storage, more so with air storage than CA storage. Red ginseng processed from roots stored for more than three months showed distinct internal-cavity development, which gradually increased as the storage period progressed. Development of internal-cavity of red ginseng was assumed to be caused by melting or leaking of soluble sugars during the heating and drying processes. As a result more starch granules were hydrolysed into soluble sugars as storage increased. Growth of microorganisms in fresh ginseng was not observed during the first two months of air storage. Microorganisms began to grow in the rhizome and injured areas of ginseng roots after two months. In CA storage, the growth of microorganisms was not observed after three months storage; however, in air storage 100% of roots were infected after five months.

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