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This study compared the physicochemical properties and sensory quality of fresh lotus seeds of ‘Mantianxing’ and ‘No.36 space lotus’. The results showed that along with the maturation of seeds, the seed shell color changed from green to brown and that of the plumule turned from yellow to green. In addition, the moisture content decreased, the hardness significantly increased, and the plumpness remained constant. The above changes occurred 4 days earlier in August than in September. During maturation, the total phenol content and DPPH free radical scavenging capacity decreased; the soluble sugar content and sweet taste first increased and then decreased; and the alkaloid content and bitter taste showed an overall increasing trend. Hence, the quality of fresh lotus seeds is determined by the harvesting time, and lotus seeds harvested on day 14 in August and day 18 in September have the highest fresh quality.

This study aims to investigate the impact of ferulic acid pretreatment on the hardness of Chinese radish after cooking. Radish slices were immersed in ferulic acid solution and distilled water, respectively. The ferulic acid treated samples showed significantly higher hardness (p < 0.05) than the control samples after cooking, and could keep relatively more integrated cell wall structure after cooking at 100 °C for 30 min. Subsequently, we determined the cell wall fraction contents, sugar ratio and molecular weight distribution of different treated samples. Ferulic acid treated groups showed higher percentage of chelate-soluble fraction (CSF) and sugar ratio 1 than the control groups in both fresh and cooked samples. The CSF had two high molecular weight peaks at 7.7 min and 8.6 min, probably due to the cross-linking with ferulic acid. This research may provide an effective way to decrease the softening of thermally processed fruits and vegetables.