The pre-treatment of fruits and vegetables

Frozen fruits and vegetables undergo quality deterioration during freezing and frozen storage, due to the large amount of water in the fresh product. In addition, texture degradation, structural collapse and drip loss will occur during and after thawing. If pre-freezing, freezing and storage operations are not carried out adequately, frozen products may resemble their fresh counterparts in name only. In this chapter, we discuss the ways in which pre-freeze treatments, in particular formulation, can be used to maximise the quality and stability of frozen foods. (Résumé d'auteur