Post-harvest Sensory Characteristics and Consumer Acceptance of Vegetable Pigeonpea

Abstract Pigeonpea (Cajanus cajan Milsp) is an important food crop in the dryland tropics. The objective of this research was to evaluate the effects of post-harvest processing and storage on sensory characteristics of pigeonpea. Moisture content of harvested pigeonpeas was assessed at 0. 22 and 60 days of storage. Five treatments of podded, deep-frozen (-18°C), blanched (72°C, 2min), oven-dried (65°C, 8hr), and blanched + oven-dried pigeonpea, in a completely randomized design were evaluated for sensory characteristics at post-harvest storage. The reduction in moisture content was highest (43%) in podded and lowest (6%) on blanched pigeonpea at 60 days of storage. Consumer acceptance of pigeonpea varied significantly (P < 0.05) for traits of physical appearance, color, aroma, and seed tenderness. Physical appearance of podded pigeonpea had a sensory rating of 6.3, indicating high acceptability, while blanched samples had a 6.0 rating on a 7-point hedonic scale. The podded, blanched + oven-dried and seed tenderness had 5.6, 6.6, and 6.1 scores, respectively. The sensory scores of podded and oven-dried were attributed to high sugar concentrations (4.25 mg/100g) the samples at 22 days post pre-treatment. Palatability and overall acceptance of pigeonpea were comparable, indicating that post-harvest treatment and 22-day storage had positive sensory attributes. Post-harvest processing treatment and storage may enhance vegetable pigeonpea utilization in the dryland regions.