The impact of cold chain temperature abuses on the quality of frozen strawberries (Fragaria ×ananassa)

<p>The quality of frozen foods can be negatively affected if improper storage and distribution temperatures are allowed. The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of freeze-thaw cycles, which may occur in the cold chain, on colour (<em>Lab</em>, Total Colour Differences (TCD), chroma and hue angle) and vitamin C (ascorbic and dehydroascorbic acids) content of frozen strawberries (<em>Fragaria </em>×<em>ananassa</em>,<em> </em>Duschesne, cv. Selva). A plan of temperature abuses (TAs) was established, based on a real situation, and applied to frozen strawberries during a four month frozen storage period. The results showed that the lightness (<em>L</em>) was the only parameter that was not significantly affected by range of TAs studied. The colour showed some variation on the parameters <em>a</em>, <em>b</em>, TCD, chroma and hue angle. During TAs, ascorbic acid decreased about 75% and dehydroascorbic acid increased 73%. The non-abused strawberry samples showed better overall appearance than the abused samples.</p> <p>This work contributes to an understanding of the quality changes of frozen strawberries that might occur during frozen storage and cold chain distribution.