Frozen green beans (Phaseolus vulgaris, L.) quality profile evaluation during home storage

Abstract

Home storage is at the end of the frozen foods distribution chain, and not much is known how it affects frozen vegetables quality. This research presents a computational evaluation of frozen green beans (Phaseolus vulgaris, L.) quality profile, in terms of ascorbic acid, starch content, chlorophylls a and b, colour (Hunter a and b co-ordinates and total colour difference) and flavour, at storage temperatures of +5, )6, )12 and )18°C, for respectively, 1, 4, 14, and 60 days. Simulations were set to access the impact of the preestablished after sale dates of the Ôstar dating' system.Results demonstrate that green beans nutritional and sensory parameters are well retained at the storage temperatures of +5, )6 and )12°C. At )18°C, sensory parameters (e.g. colour and flavour) are well retained, but nutritional parameters, such as ascorbic acid and starch, degraded. The study concluded that the Ôstar dating' system is a good after sale dating system for frozen green beans for the storage temperatures of +5, )6 and )12°C. The system fails to maintain a good balance between sensory and nutritional parameters at low storage temperatures (e.g. <)18°C).

Blanching effects on chemistry, quality and structure of green beans (cv. Moncayo)

“…Sensory properties are generally used to quantify the shelf-life of frozen vegetables, and properties such as the perception of colour, texture and flavour have been used to quantify quality as perceived by the consumer. However, Martins and Silva [1] found that sensory parameters may not be the most suitable shelf-life limiting factors in frozen vegetables, as our results confirm. To the contrary, they corroborate other studies in which objective texture analysis methods have been successfully used to detect the effect of rapid freezing rates, even after cooking in the case of green beans [7].…”

“…And thawing may ultimately nullify the effect of controlling temperature throughout the frozen foods distribution chain, since quality can be severely affected at this final stage [17]. As noted earlier, retention of quality in frozen beans is also influenced by packaging materials, and computational models have shown that a good insulating material can significantly reduce the effect of temperature abuses by increasing thawing times by up to 190% [1].…”

“…colour, texture and flavour). Green beans are mostly grown outdoors and harvested seasonally, which makes freezing very important process preservation for extending their availability throughout the year [1]. However, the market for ready meals in Europe expanded rapidly in the period 1995-1999, with growth underpinned by beneficial macroeconomic conditions and increasing demand for convenience foods [2].…”

Physical and Biochemical Properties of Selected Tropical Fruits

“…The knowledge of physical and thermal properties of foods is essential in every stage of processing thereof into various final products. Many studies have been reported on the physical and thermal properties of fruits and vegetables such as star apple (Oyelade et al, 2005), green beans (Martins et al, 2004), apricot (Haydar et al, 2007), orange (Topuz et al, 2005) etc., but scanty literature is available on the physical, thermal, and rheological properties of guava, sapota, and papaya.…”

The Influence of Geometrical and Operational Factors on Supercooling Capacity in Strawberries: A Simulation Study

“…Simulations were performed using triangular finite elements for meshing simplicity; a symmetric axis was considered as shown in Fig. 1 (Segerlind 1984;Braess 1997;Martins and Silva 2004).…”