Textural Quality and the loss in Nutrients of Potatoes and Carrots Affected by Blanching and Storage Conditions

As potatoes and carrots are important horticultural products and an important raw material for the food processing industry, so inevitably it is stored in fridges in order to be available all year long. Texture is a critical quality factor for vegetables. Successful production of acceptable products requires serious attention to textural changes and attaining of this aim involves a good knowledge of the factors that influence texture. Both the textural and the loss in nutrients of processed vegetables are influenced not only by variety and maturity at harvest, but by processing and storage conditions as well. Blanching combined with cold storage is an excellent preservation method to extend vegetables shelf-life. While many of the researchers in this area investigated the properties of those of thermally processed (sterilized, dehydrated, frozen) products, little attention has been given to the interactive nature of the stages in the various processing operations or to variations within a particular stage. The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of different blanching and storage conditions on textural and loss in nutrients of potatoes and carrots. Before Potatoes and carrots were frozen using plate and air blast, the samples were blanched using water and steam blanching with time variations within each method. The physical properties of interest were hardness, cohesiveness, and loss of sugar. The loss in sugar determined and the texture changes in the products during processing are illustrated. Keywords: loss in nutrients of potatoes, blanching, storage condition