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Maintenance of textural integrity in frozen, shredded vegetables. Li Ni, PhD Danny Lin, M.S. Diane Barrett, PhD Food Science & Technology University of California, Davis. Outline. Background Texture measurement of vegetables Optimization of LTLT pretreatment
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Maintenance of textural integrity in frozen, shredded vegetables Li Ni, PhD Danny Lin, M.S. Diane Barrett, PhD Food Science & Technology University of California, Davis
Outline • Background • Texture measurement of vegetables • Optimization of LTLT pretreatment • Optimization of exogenous CaCl2 concentration • Color improvement of green vegetables
Textural integrity of frozen vegetables • Structure and condition of the raw vegetable • Maturity at harvest • Blanching, freezing, thawing and cooking conditions used for preparation • Interaction of the structural components at cell walls and cell membranes
Cell walls of vegetable tissues • 3-dimensional network of cellulose, hemicellulose, pectin, lignin and proteins • Cemented together by middle lamella • consists of calcium salts of galacturonic acid polymers that have been partially esterified with methyl alcohol cell wall cell membrane middle lamella
Softening of vegetablesby thermal processing • Resistance to deforming forces • Turgor • Cell wall rigidity • Breakage of cell walls accompanied by release of vacuolar contents • Separation of one cell from another - failure at the adhesive layer between the cells
Pectin molecule polymer of galacturonic acids which may be partially esterified
Calcium ions polygalacturonic acid chains (pectins) Calcium interaction • Interaction with cell walls and middle lamella: “Egg-box” model
++ ++ Calcium interaction • Interact with cell membranes and affect turgor pressure Calcium ions Phospholipid bilayer
Pectinmethylesterase (PME) • Hydrolyzes the methyl ester linkages in pectin molecules and releases methanol and free galacturonic acid moieties • Free carboxyl groups then form Ca-bridges between pectin molecules • Activity • Inactive at temperatures 50C • Activated 50C and reacts with cell wall pectins • rapidly deactivated at 70C
Objective • Improve texture integrity and crispiness of frozen vegetables • Activation of PME • LTLT pretreatment • Calcium binds free carboxyl groups • Addition of Ca2+ • Improve color of pretreated frozen vegetables • 3-step-blanching • Addition of Zn2+ • Increased pH - calcium lactate
Materials & Methods Shredded vegetables LTLT pretreatment (60, 65, 70, 75C for 5, 10, 15, 30, 45 min) Blanching (100C for 2.5 min) Cooling (ice bath) Equilibrate to ambient temperature Analysis
Texture analysis Texture Technologies TXT2 Analyzer (Kramer shear compression)
Texture analysis Texture Technologies TXT2 Analyzer (Kramer shear compression) 45 angle Original Sharpened
Texture analysis Texture Technologies TXT2 Analyzer (load cell)
Texture measurement Parameters for TXT2 Analyzer (Kramer shear compression)
Texture measurement Parameters for TXT2 Analyzer (Kramer shear compression)
Texture change of thermally processed vegetables Broccoli 30 min 5 min
Texture change of thermal processed vegetable Sugar snap pea 5 min 30 min
Optimization of LTLT pretreatment Optimum temperature of preheating for 5 min Vegetable Size T (C) Bok choy 1-1/2 " L x 1/4" W 65 Chinese cabbage 1-1/2 " L x 1/4" W 60 Cabbage 1-1/2 " L x 1/4" W 65 Carrots 1-1/2 " L x 3/8” W 65 Green pepper 1-1/2 " L x 3/8" W 70 Red pepper 1-1/2 " L x 3/8" W Broccoli 3/4 " floret head x 1-1/2 "long 60 Sugar snap peas whole 65
PME activity • Endogenous in raw • Residual (after pretreatment) • Exogenous - add PME as ingredient
Optimization of Ca2+ addition Exogenous Firmness (Kg) Ca2+ % Green pepper Red pepper Broccoli Carrot Control 34.432.47 36.323.74 22.110.96 11.381.28 0 38.852.45 45.533.7632.672.06 0.5 39.532.95 38.722.93 48.216.25 34.723.55 1 40.051.77 42.171.98 45.114.07 35.423.27 2 41.063.0145.392.5451.205.11 37.263.31 3 37.972.93 42.013.80 51.763.99 40.004.83 4 37.541.33 44.033.06 49.224.46 39.922.22 5 40.555.34 41.192.49 52.612.50 44.265.37
Optimization of Ca2+ addition Exogenous Firmness (Kg) Ca2+ % Chinese cabbageCabbageSugar snap peaBok choy Control 19.021.53 29.852.24 23.481.21 17.670.56 0 26.161.02 46.693.20 36.203.59 26.703.40 0.5 27.153.93 45.304.95 34.102.22 28.922.40 1 26.703.00 43.424.03 34.353.42 30.701.47 2 28.065.22 43.726.16 33.841.72 33.452.48 3 27.213.85 46.663.05 32.593.15 29.152.34 4 30.561.80 42.343.48 32.902.80 29.152.34 5 29.632.67 43.606.96 32.043.27
Addition of CaCl2 • Improved firmness • Higher conc. (5%) of CaCl2 contributed a firmer texture in carrots • 2% of CaCl2 resulted in a firmer texture for bell peppers, broccoli, and bok choy • 4% of CaCl2 contributed a firmer texture for Chinese cabbage • Addition of CaCl2 did not increase the firmness of cabbage and sugar snap pea
Improvement of green color • 3-step-blanching • HTST-LTLT-Blanching • Addition of Zn2+ • ZnCl2 • Increased pH • Calcium lactate
CaCl2 ZnCl2 Calcium lactate (0, 0.5, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5%) 3 step blanching 100C for 3, 6, 9, 12, 15 sec Materials & Methods Shredded vegetables LTLT pretreatment (60, 65, 70, 75C for 5, 10, 15, 30, 45 min) Blanching (100C for 2.5 min) Cooling (ice bath) Equilibrate to ambient temperature Analysis
Pretreatment for vegetables • Bok choy • LTLT (65C, 5min) with 4% calcium lactate • Chinese cabbage • LTLT (60C, 5min) with 1% calcium lactate • Cabbage • LTLT (65C, 5min) • Sugar snap pea • LTLT (65C, 5min) with 2% calcium lactate • 3-step (100C, 122s + LTLT)
Pretreatment for vegetables • Broccoli • LTLT (60C, 5min) or 3-step (85C, 2s + LTLT) • Carrot • LTLT (65C, 5min) with 5% calcium lactate • Green pepper • LTLT (70C, 5min) with 3% calcium lactate • Red pepper • Addition of 2% CaCl2 in blanching H2O without pretreatment
Unit operation Raw material LTLT pretreatment Blanch Microwave Thaw/cook Freeze Frozen storage