Changes in Nutrient Levels of Aqueous Extracts from Radish (Raphanus sativus L.) Root during Liquefaction by Heat and Non-heat Processing

The amount of cellular components including soluble sugars, amino acids, organic acids and glucosinolates (GLS) was investigated during radish root processing to develop a radish beverage. The radish root was divided into two parts, white and green tissue, and processed separately by extracting the juice from the fresh tissue and from the boiled tissue to compare differences in the components content among the preparations. The overall palatability of both the fresh and boiled extracts from the green part of the radish was higher than that of the same extracts from the white part. The sweetness of extract by boiling increased and its pungency decreased, thereby the palatability increased by being compared to the fresh radish extract. The sweetness was affected by sucrose not by glucose or fructose of monosaccharides by showing different sucrose contents according to treatment comparing palatability. Malic acid was identified as primary organic acid, and the content was higher in both the fresh and boiled extracts from the white part than in the extracts from the green part of the radish. The fresh extract from the green part of the radish contained more essential amino acids, such as threonine and valine, and more hydrophilic amino acids including glutamic acid, aspartic acid, and arginine than those of the fresh extract from the white part, suggesting the green fresh part is more palatable than the white fresh part. The main sulfur compound was ethylthiocyanate in radish, and others were butyl isothiocyanate, dimethyl-disulfide, and 4-methylthio-3-butylisothiocyanate. The four GLS were detected much more in the fresh green and fresh white parts of the radish because they evaporated during boiling. The contents of the four sulfur compounds were higher in the white fresh part than in the green fresh part, which is likely the reason the pungency was higher and the palatability was lower in the white fresh part than in the green fresh part of the radish. The ascorbic acid content was higher in the fresh extract compared to the boiled extracts from both the green and white parts. Taken together, these findings indicate that fresh radish extract is superior to obtain in terms of retaining desirable nutritional and functional components for health.