Abstract

Fresh ginseng is a high-value medicinal root crop whose postharvest quality is affected by field heterogeneity, washing, packaging, and storage. This study evaluated two packaging films—50 µm polyethylene (PE50) and a 30 µm polyethylene/30 µm oriented polypropylene laminate (PE30/OPP30)—and a post-wash 80 ppm peracetic acid (PAA) spray applied at 20 °C at approximately 60 mL kg−1 fresh root mass. Field-sorted six-year-old roots from one commercial ridge were stored at −2 °C for 14 weeks. The primary factorial design comprised film and PAA treatment, while farmer grade class was retained as a stratification factor and tissue position as a within-root factor for destructive analyses. Package atmosphere, post-storage ambient CO2 evolution, cumulative weight loss, tissue moisture, color and visual marketability, 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging activity, total phenolic content (TPC), and targeted liquid chromatography (LC) quantification of Rg1 and Rb1 were evaluated using three independent biological replicates. PE30/OPP30 generated lower O2 and higher CO2 than PE50 and reduced cumulative weight loss; however, O2 reached 0.63% and CO2 reached 14.04% at 4 weeks, indicating potentially hypoxic conditions. PAA did not consistently improve the measured physicochemical traits, and microbial efficacy was not evaluated. Fine roots showed the lowest moisture status but the highest Rg1 and Rb1 contents. These findings provide a single-field baseline for integrating packaging response, tissue water status, and chemical markers, but require validation across production sites, seasons, and packaging-film types before broad commercial application.

IPC Classification

Keywords