Impact of Gamma Irradiation and Storage Time on the Sprouting of Cocoyam Corms

Cocoyams are cultivated in Nigeria for their edible corms. Post harvest losses in cocoyam are attributed to its short sprouting time during storage. Planting of sprouted corms reduces the total yield leading to financial loss by the farmers. Colocasia esculenta (NCe 001 and NCe 011) and Xanthosoma sagittifolium (NXs 001 and NXs 002) Nigeria cultivars were subjected to gamma irradiation at doses of 20, 40, 80, 120 and 150Gy for one hour and stored. The effect of radiation dose and storage time on the sprouting of these cocoyam varieties was studied. Statistical analysis of the experimental results was conducted. The results of the study indicated that the control samples sprouted more than the irradiated samples during storage. The results also showed that there was a dose-dependent decrease in the irradiated samples, with 150Gy samples having the least number of sprouted corms. A significant difference between the control samples and irradiated samples at p≤ 0.05 was observed in the study. The result of the study thus showed that gamma irradiation can be used as a processing method to improve the storability of cocoyam by inhibiting the sprouting of cocoyam corms.