Processing of cauliflower by ohmic heating: influence of precooking on firmness

Abstract

The feasibility of processing cauliflower by ohmic heating was investigated. Firstly, cauliflower florets were precooked in tap water at low temperatures (40–70 °C) for 0 to 60 min. A control sample was cooked at 95 °C for 5 min. No significant textural differences were found between samples treated at 40 or 50 °C and fresh samples, but the firmness of samples cooked above 60 °C decreased. The effect of precooking time was not found to be significant. Secondly, low temperature precooking was performed in salted water for 30 min and followed by ohmic heating (holding time 30 s at 135 °C). After ohmic heating, florets pretreated at low temperatures were firmer than control samples. The firmness of florets precooked at 40 °C or 50 °C was considerably increased (>300%) compared to those precooked at 95 °C. Low‐temperature precooking increased the firmness of cauliflower subjected to ohmic heating. The experimental results show that ohmic heating combined with low‐temperature precooking in saline solutions offers a viable solution to high temperature/short time sterilisation of cauliflower florets. © 1999 Society of Chemical Industry

Effect of packaging on storage life and quality of cauliflower stored at low temperature

“…Spoilage was more than 5% after 28 days storage in all the treatments and such curds are not suitable for marketing. Similar trend in change of fi rmness were also reported by Eliot et al (1999) and Kudachikar et al (2007) in caulifl ower and banana, respectively.…”

Effect of ohmic heating and vacuum impregnation on the osmodehydration kinetics and microstructure of strawberries (cv. Camarosa)

“…Wang & Sastry (1997) studied the effects of ohmic pretreatment and found no changes occurred in the moisture content of the final products. Eliot, Goullieux, & Pain (1999a) studied the influence of precooking by OH on the firmness of cauliflower. The results showed that OH combined with lowtemperature precooking in a saline solution is a viable alternative to HTST sterilization of cauliflower.…”

Influence of ohmic heating and vacuum impregnation on the osmotic dehydration kinetics and microstructure of pears (cv. Packham’s Triumph)

“…Wang and Sastry (1997) evaluated the effects of an ohmic pretreatment to vegetables and found no significant changes in the moisture content of the final product. Eliot et al (1999) studied the influence of precooking by OH on the firmness of cauliflower and concluded that OH combined with low-temperature precooking in saline solutions offers viable solution to HTST sterilization of cauliflower florets. In a study by Castro et al (2003), the suitability of several strawberry-based products to be processed by OH was tested.…”