Water-soluble polysaccharide determination as a technique for evaluation of sweet corn maturity

Abstract

A relationship between the non-structural carbohydrate content and the maturity of sweet corn for processing has been established. It is demonstrated that over the period when sweet corn is suitable for harvesting, while moisture content decreases, water-soluble polysaccharide (wsp) levels increase rapidly but soluble sugar concentrations decline only slightly. These results suggest that decreasing sweetness as the sweet corn matures is due to increasing WSP levels masking the sweetness contributed by relatively constant sugar concentrations. The rapid increase in wsp makes measurement of WSP content a sensitive indicator of small changes in maturity. Because of this sensitivity and the important influence of WSP on sweet corn quality, estimation of wsp provides a rapid technique for the accurate determination of sweet corn maturity.