Abstract
Sugarbeet roots are susceptible to postharvest storage diseases in storage piles. During
infection, postharvest pathogens metabolize sucrose into invert sugars (i.e., glucose and
fructose), raffinose, and other carbohydrate impurities which interfere with the sugar refinery
process. Chlorine dioxide gas (ClO2) is an effective antimicrobial agent commonly
used to disinfect surfaces in some industrial and agricultural applications. In this study, we
hypothesized that low concentrations of ClO2 gas would improve the postharvest storage
quality of sugarbeet roots and limit the formation of invert sugars and raffinose in treated
roots. Sugarbeet roots were stored for 7 weeks at 5°C and treated with dry granules of
sodium chlorite compound with an acid activator sachet (ICA TriNova; Marietta, GA)
aiming to generate approximately at 0, 25, 50, 75, and 100 mg of ClO2 per kilogram of
sugarbeet roots. Treatment had no significant effect on sucrose content (P > 0.05). But
invert sugars decreased significantly (P < 0.05), when the roots were treated with ClO2
media when compared to the controls across all levels of ClO2. Raffinose accumulation
was also numerically reduced in the sugarbeet roots across all levels of ClO2, however
significant (P < 0.05) reductions occurred in roots treated with 75 and 100 mg of ClO2
kg-1 root. The experiment was repeated in 2024 with slightly aged roots and carbohydrate
analysis is underway. Sugarbeet roots treated with all levels of ClO2 had no visible signs
of storage disease in both years. Our data suggest that use of ClO2 might be a viable option
to minimize storage disease and improve storage quality of sugarbeet roots.