Influence of vacuum impregnation and pulsed electric field on the freezing temperature and ice propagation rates of spinach leaves
Author
Summary, in English
Efforts are currently directed towards improving the quality of sensitive tissues of fruits and vegetables after freezing and thawing. One of the methods under investigation is the combination of vacuum impregnation (VI) with cryoprotectants and pulsed electric field (PEF), applied to the plant tissue prior exposure to freezing. The influence of these processes on the freezing temperature and ice propagation rate of spinach baby leaves are here studied. Leaves impregnated with trehalose, sucrose, glucose and mannitol exhibited significantly lower ice propagation rate and higher freezing temperatures in comparison to non-treated controls. Leaves subjected to PEF also showed increased freezing temperatures compared to the non-treated leaves; however the ice propagation rate was not influenced by PEF for the cryoprotectants used in the study, except for leaves impregnated with trehalose, where it was significantly increased and water, where it was significantly decreased. The combination of VI and PEF resulted in comparable freezing temperatures and ice propagation rates as the leaves subjected only to VI. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Department/s
- Department of Food Technology, Engineering and Nutrition
- Food Technology and Nutrition (M.Sc.)
Publishing year
2015
Language
English
Pages
497-502
Publication/Series
LWT - Food Science and Technology
Volume
64
Issue
1
Full text
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Document type
Journal article
Publisher
Elsevier
Topic
- Food Engineering
Keywords
- Infrared thermography
- Plant tissues
- Electroporation
Status
Published
ISBN/ISSN/Other
- ISSN: 0023-6438