Relationship between Secondary Metabolism Changes in Cassava Root Tissue and Physiological Deterioration

Abstract

During the storage of cassava roots, coumarins and phenols were produced and the activities of phenylalanine ammonia-lyase and peroxidase were activated in every part of the parenchymatous tissue, that is the outermost tissue (called the A-part), the intervening tissue (called the B-part) and the innermost tissue (called the C-part), in parallel with the occurrence of physiological deterioration in the B-part. In many cases, secondary metabolites were produced more strongly in the B-part than in the A- and C-parts. Parenchymatous tissue blocks were divided into the A-, B- and C-parts and they were separately incubated, together with undivided parenchymatous tissue blocks. In both cases, metabolic changes occurred in the A-, B- and C-parts, and physiological deterioration was induced only in the B-part. © 1983, Japan Society for Bioscience, Biotechnology, and Agrochemistry. All rights reserved.