Application of Vibration Technique for the Control of Physical Properties of Yam Sprouts (Dioscorea spp.) during Storage in Funaab, Nigeria Environment

Early sprouting of yam tuber is a typical problem during storage resulting into weight losses, deterioration, shrinkage and reduction in quality. This work therefore applied vibration technique for the control of physical properties of yam sprouts (Dioscorea spp.) during storage in FUNAAB, Nigeria Environment. The physical properties (length, number, and weight of yam sprout, number of leaves, weight of roots) of the yam sprouts were determined for one hundred and forty white yam tubers. One hundred and eight tubers were subjected to vibration and remaining thirty-two tubers were taken as control. The factors of the experimental design examined were three levels of frequencies (low (1 – 5 Hz), medium (60 – 100) Hz and high (150 – 200 Hz)), amplitudes of low (5 mm), medium (10 mm) and high (20 mm) and times of low (5 minutes), medium (10 minutes) and high (15 minutes) with weight of yam tuber of two levels of small (0.1 – 2.9 kg) and big (3.0 – 5.0 kg). The tubers were stored for ten weeks after vibration and the physical properties of the yam sprouts were monitored and the records were taken every week during the storage period. It was discovered that; as the main effect of the frequency, amplitude and time of vibration were increasing; the physical properties of yam tubers sprouts scrutinized were decreasing significantly at p < 0.05 for both weight of yams 0.1 – 2.9 kg and 3.0 – 5.0 kg. The results revealed that mechanical vibration helps in slowing down sprouting in yam tubers.