PM spinach harvesting.
DATELINE – Asahi-Shimbun Tokyo 10/14/2002. The Fukaya Vegetable Cooperative in Saitama Japan is promoting evening harvested spinach. Evening-harvested greens have more sugar and Vitamin C than do morning harvested greens. Adopting this strategy allows the Fukaya growers time to harvest and transport produce to the morning market in larger cities like Tokyo. The cooperative claims that the afternoon harvested greens have 40% greater Vitamin C and 300% greater sugar concentration when harvested at 4 pm rather than 5 am. The marketing strategy is based on research conducted between 1997 and 2000 at the Dounan Agricultural Research Institute of the Hokkaido Agricultural Experiment Station in Japan.
Conclusions:
Leafy green vegetables also exhibit a diurnal cycle in soluble sugar. This change may impact flavor, human preference, nutritional value and shelf life. A full study of the diurnal variation in sugar and Vitamin C concentrations is warranted.